Conceived by acclaimed concert pianist Anthony de Mare and produced by Rachel Colbert, LIAISONS is a landmark commissioning and concert project based on the songs of legendary musical theater composer Stephen Sondheim. The Project invited 36 of the world’s foremost contemporary composers to choose a song by Sondheim and re-imagine it as a solo piano piece.

Both an homage and a celebration, LIAISONS makes the case for Sondheim as one of the 20th century's most influential composers - as at home in the concert hall as on the Broadway stage. It is also an expression of de Mare’s versatility, and his commitment to contemporary composers: the Project’s roster spans the worlds of classical, jazz, opera, pop, musical theater and film. Composers hail from seven different countries and range in age from 30 to 75, representing more than 34 Pulitzers, Grammys, Tonys and Academy Awards.

Since 2011 de Mare has performed over 50 different LIAISONS concerts to full houses across the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, and the U.K. (see Concerts page). Commissioned by individuals and institutions across the country, all 36 pieces received New York premieres over a series of three sold-out concerts at Symphony Space in 2012, 2013, and 2015. Mr. Sondheim attended all three concerts and participated in live onstage interviews in 2012 and 2013.

In the fall of 2015, LIAISONS was released by ECM Records on their New Series label and promptly garnered worldwide accolades including top mentions on the "Best of 2015" lists by NPR, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Daily Beast, the Chicago Tribune, and the San Francisco Examiner. In celebration of the release, de Mare played the entire collection across a three-concert series in NYC at Birdland, The Sheen Center and Symphony Space.

The complete folio of LIAISONS scores was published in the spring of 2017 and is now available from Hal Leonard; Mr. de Mare continues to perform from the collection in major cities, concert halls, and festivals around the world.


“To hear composers take my work and take it seriously... it’s a thrill.”
– Stephen Sondheim

ANTHONY DE MARE is one of the world's foremost champions of contemporary music. He pioneered the genre of the speaking-singing pianist nearly 25 years ago with the premiere of Frederic Rzewski’s groundbreaking De Profundis, and his versatility has inspired the creation of over 60 new works by distinguished artists including Meredith Monk, David del Tredici, Paul Moravec, Aaron Jay Kernis, Fred Hersch and Jerome Kitzke. With Liaisons he has added another 27 composers to the list of those he has commissioned, and another 36 compositions to the contemporary piano repertoire. Since his 1986 debut with Young Concert Artists, de Mare's performances have spanned five continents and 25 countries; his discography includes twenty recordings on Innova, Koch (E1) and CRI/New World and ECM Records. Mr. de Mare is a Steinway artist and serves as Professor of Piano on the faculties of Manhattan School of Music and New York University. anthonydemare.com

STEPHEN SONDHEIM is widely acknowledged as the most innovative and influential composer and lyricist in modern Broadway history. Accolades include eight Tony Awards including one for Lifetime Achievement (more than any other composer), an Academy Award, a Pulitzer Prize, a special Olivier Award, a National Medal of Arts and multiple Grammy and Drama Desk awards. His best-known works as composer and lyricist include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George and Into the Woods. He wrote the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy and composed film scores for Stavisky, Reds and Dick Tracy among others. His collected lyrics with attendant essays were published by Knopf in two volumes: "Finishing the Hat" (2010) and "Look, I Made A Hat" (2011). Sondheim.org

RACHEL COLBERT is an independent producer, development consultant and project manager for artists and cultural organizations in New York City.

Thank you for your interest in LIAISONS. Did you know that we're a nonprofit enterprise entierly made possible by the generosity of donors? It was donations that enabled us to commission the composers and record the album. But there's more to do - we are still raising funds for three key components: to complete filming and editing archival interviews with all the composers, to tour the concerts in the U.K. and abroad, and to cover the cost of the first 8 recording sessions. Please join us!

All donations are tax-deductible through Fractured Atlas.

We are deeply grateful to the following donors for their support of the commissions and recording (as of June 30, 2015): Ryan Anderson • Celia Asbell • Steven Bell • Derek Bermel • Sue Renee Bernstein • Martin Blanco • Roxanne And Scott Bok • John Brennan •Sammy Buck • Daniel Chadburn • Jenny Chai •Mary Ellen Clark • Joachim Coghlan • Zachary Cohn • Jeannie Colbert • Gilbert Cole • Philip Crosby • Anne De Mare • Viola De Mare • Alek Deva • Beth Rudin Dewoody • Erika Dohi • Arthur Don • George Dougherty • Andrew Duxbury • Kirsten Egenes • Stuart Evans • Karl Maria Fattig • Thomas G Felt • Illya Filshtinskiy • Charles Finn • William Fletcher • Heather And Justin Frank, MD • Shelly Freeman • Dan Gallagher and Peter Shearer • Craig Glenday • Frank Godchaux and Mark Murashige • Harold Gray • Amy Gustafson • Michael Halberstam • Jefrey Hall-Flavin • Shelly Freeman • Samantha Harris • Sharonne Hayes • Jean Heins • Paul Henderson • Isabel Hernandez-Cata • William Hill • Elisabeth Ho • Paul Hogarth • Mark Horowitz • David Humphrey • Richard Hurst • Rika Iino • Ed Sylvanus Iskandar • Jewish Communal Fund • Sarah Johnson • Ellen Krupa • Earl Kunz • Paul Lazarus • Gary Ledet • Thomas Leonard • David Levy • Louis C Liberatore • Bob And Anna Livingston • Robert Lobiondo • Raymond Longa • Paul Maggio • Steven Mann • Barbara Marcin Ullman • James and Ellen Marcus • Michael Marton • Jill Matichak • Michael McElroy • John McKeever • David McMullen • William Merrill • Solomon Mikowsky • Ann Miner • Evan Mirapaul • Matthew Mirapaul • Ashil Mistry • Elliot Mitchell • Fran Morris Rosman • Martin L. And Lucy Miller Murray • Alexandra Murray-Duffy • Nicholas Nash • Ian Nisbet • Gerd Nowaczyk • Catherine Oconnor • Jonah Orlofsky • Stephen Ortiz • Cormac Ose • Carol Ostrow • Robert Paterson • Perry And Martin Granoff • Daniel Petry • Lex Poppens • David Rakowski • Anthony Razzano • Mark Redanty • Elaine Reed • Benjamin and Donna Rosen • Tamar Rozin Muskal • Wally Rubin • May and Samuel Rudin Foundation • Anthony Ruth • Eleanor Shakin • Steven Shankroff • David and Alice Shearer • Peter Shearer • Ted And Mary Jo Shen • The Shen Family Foundation • Scott Smith • William S Smoot • Annaliese Soros • Tom Spain • Bernadette Speach • Stonewall Community Foundation • Andrei Strizek • Richard and Linda J. Sweetnam • Carmen H. Tellez • William E. Terry • April M Thibeault • Gabriel Tsai • Paul Upham • William Upham • The Ursetti Family • Douglas Van Epps • C. Vogel • Robert Weirich • Morton Weisman • Emmeline Wexer • William White • Patrick Willingham • Walt Winnowski • Cary Wong • Raymond Wong • Anonymous (21)

Liaisons is an enormously ambitious endeavor whose launch took the support of many generous and visionary donors. We are deeeply grateful to them, and to all 145 participants of our recent INDIEGOGO campaign.

Please join the LIAISONS team with a tax-deductible donation through Fractured Atlas! Contributions of any size are deeply appreciated and can be put toward various project components including commissions, production costs, archival documentation, film and video creation, and recording costs. Please see the Commissions page for a list of commissioners and their pieces.




Donors as of June 30, 2015:
Ryan Anderson • Celia Asbell • Steven Bell • Derek Bermel • Sue Renee Bernstein • Martin Blanco • Roxanne And Scott Bok • John Brennan •Sammy Buck • Daniel Chadburn • Jenny Chai •Mary Ellen Clark • Joachim Coghlan • Zachary Cohn • Jeannie Colbert • Gilbert Cole • Philip Crosby • Anne De Mare • Viola De Mare • Alek Deva • Beth Rudin Dewoody • Erika Dohi • Arthur Don • George Dougherty • Andrew Duxbury • Kirsten Egenes • Stuart Evans • Karl Maria Fattig • Thomas G Felt • Illya Filshtinskiy • Charles Finn • William Fletcher • Heather And Justin Frank, MD • Shelly Freeman • Dan Gallagher and Peter Shearer • Craig Glenday • Frank Godchaux and Mark Murashige • Harold Gray • Amy Gustafson • Michael Halberstam • Jefrey Hall-Flavin • Shelly Freeman • Samantha Harris • Sharonne Hayes • Jean Heins • Paul Henderson • Isabel Hernandez-Cata • William Hill • Elisabeth Ho • Paul Hogarth • Mark Horowitz • David Humphrey • Richard Hurst • Rika Iino • Ed Sylvanus Iskandar • Jewish Communal Fund • Sarah Johnson • Ellen Krupa • Earl Kunz • Paul Lazarus • Gary Ledet • Thomas Leonard • David Levy • Louis C Liberatore • Bob And Anna Livingston • Robert Lobiondo • Raymond Longa • Paul Maggio • Steven Mann • Barbara Marcin Ullman • James and Ellen Marcus • Michael Marton • Jill Matichak • Michael McElroy • John McKeever • David McMullen • William Merrill • Solomon Mikowsky • Ann Miner • Evan Mirapaul • Matthew Mirapaul • Ashil Mistry • Elliot Mitchell • Fran Morris Rosman • Martin L. And Lucy Miller Murray • Alexandra Murray-Duffy • Nicholas Nash • Ian Nisbet • Gerd Nowaczyk • Catherine Oconnor • Jonah Orlofsky • Stephen Ortiz • Cormac Ose • Carol Ostrow • Robert Paterson • Perry And Martin Granoff • Daniel Petry • Lex Poppens • David Rakowski • Anthony Razzano • Mark Redanty • Elaine Reed • Benjamin and Donna Rosen • Tamar Rozin Muskal • Wally Rubin • May and Samuel Rudin Foundation • Anthony Ruth • Eleanor Shakin • Steven Shankroff • David and Alice Shearer • Peter Shearer • Ted And Mary Jo Shen • The Shen Family Foundation • Scott Smith • William S Smoot • Annaliese Soros • Tom Spain • Bernadette Speach • Stonewall Community Foundation • Andrei Strizek • Richard and Linda J. Sweetnam • Carmen H. Tellez • William E. Terry • April M Thibeault • Gabriel Tsai • Paul Upham • William Upham • The Ursetti Family • Douglas Van Epps • C. Vogel • Robert Weirich • Morton Weisman • Emmeline Wexer • William White • Patrick Willingham • Walt Winnowski • Cary Wong • Raymond Wong • Anonymous (21)

Individual pieces from the Liaisons repertoire can be combined to form an infinite variety of programs that appeal to audiences of all backgrounds, from recital series and festivals to student unions and music departments. Mr. de Mare works with each venue to tailor a program best suited to their audience and presenting needs.

Single programs last from 60-90 minutes and contain approximately 11-14 pieces. As many as three fully distinct programs can be performed consecutively. Mr. de Mare delivers brief commentary between pieces, and multi-media components are also available that complement and contextualize the performance. These include background slides with animated text, audio clips from interviews with the composers, and an edited 4-minute filmed of Sondheim’s live onstage interview at the NYC premiere. 

The multimedia component is delivered as a specially created integrated Flash program; technical requirements are a projector with a DVI, HDMI or VGA input and/or connection to a computer running Windows XP (or later) or Mac OS X. In addition, three pieces require CD or mp3 playback along with a stage audio monitor for the performer: Steve Reich’s Finishing the Hat, Jason Robert Brown’s Birds of Victorian England and Duncan Sheik's Johanna... in space.

A master teacher and lecturer, Mr. de Mare can offer residencies and lectures as well as day-, week- or semester-long curricula based on Liaisons material.