Max Lifchitz is active as a composer, performer, arts administrator, and educator. A graduate of The Juilliard School and Harvard University, he was invited to join the faculty of the University at Albany, SUNY in 1986. Previously, he held teaching appointments at the Manhattan School of Music and Columbia University. During the fall semester of 2006, Lifchitz served as the Elena Diaz Verson Amos Eminent Scholar in Latin American Studies at Columbus State University in Georgia.

In addition to teaching a variety of music courses and general education offerings, Lifchitz has served the University at Albany as Chair of the Music Department and the Department of Caribbean, Latin American, and US Latino Studies. In the spring of 2005, he was honored with the University at Albany’s Excellence in Research Award.

His creative endeavors have been supported by grants and fellowships from the ASCAP Foundation; the Ford Foundation; the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation; Meet the Composer, Inc.; The University of Michigan Society of Fellows; the CAPS Program of New York State; and the National Endowment for the Arts. As a pianist, Lifchitz was awarded the first prize in the 1976 Gaudeamus Competition for Performers of Contemporary Music held in Holland. His concert appearances throughout Latin America have been underwritten by the Fund for US Artists at International Festivals. Lifchitz is the founder and artistic director of the New York City-based North/South Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble dedicated to performing music by composers from the Americas.