Born in Chelyabinsk in west-central Russia, close to the Ural Mountains, Auerbach was a child prodigy. After winning several piano competitions, she was invited on a concert tour to the USA in 1991, and decided to stay. She graduated from The Juilliard School, studying piano and composition. She also studied Comparative Literature at Columbia University. 

Commissioned by the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, Icarus was first performed by the Verbier Festival Orchestra, conducted by Charles Dutoit, on July 18, 2011. The music comes from the last two movements of Auerbach’s First Symphony (Chimera). The result is a tone poem inspired by a story from Greek mythology. Daedalus, the master craftsman, fashions a set of wings for his son Icarus, warning him not fly too close to the sun. Icarus does anyway, and falls into the sea.

In her program note on the work, Auerbach writes: “What makes this myth so touching is Icarus’s impatience of the heart, his wish to reach the unreachable, the intensity of the ecstatic brevity of his flight and inevitability of his fall. If Icarus were to fly safely—-there would be no myth. His tragic death is beautiful. It also poses the question–from Daedalus’ point of view–-how can one distinguish success from failure? Daedalus’ greatest invention, the wings which allowed a man to fly, was his greatest failure as they caused the death of his son. Daedalus was brilliant, his wings were perfect, but he was also a blind father who did not truly understand his child.”

~ Program notes by Charley Samson, copyright 2023