James Adler

A pianist who "can create whatever type of music he wants at the keyboard" (Chicago Sun-Times), James Adler returns this season to the Yamaha Piano Salon in New York City with a program of American music, including the world premiere of his concert paraphrase from Scott Joplin's Treemonisha. The program also features Rhapsody in Blue, a piece particularly associated with Mr. Adler after having performed it for 50,000 at Chicago's Grant Park Concerts and worldwide from New York's Paramount Theatre to the Dimitria Festival in Thessoloniki, Greece. Mr. Adler recently appeared at the Soclair Music Festival, where he "gave a vivid performance, clearly thinking in orchestral terms with his array of pianistic colors" (Classical New Jersey); he has also appeared every summer at the French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts since 2004, most recently in a performance of the Grieg Piano Concerto.

Mr. Adler is equally known for his many compositions. This season sees the conclusion of a trio of performances of his A Winter Triptych: by The Fairfield County Chorale in Norwalk, CT (2006); by the Choral Society of the Hamptons in NY (2007); and as the finale in a production of The Sheep Thief in Asheville, NC (2007). Mr. Adler's extensive list of compositions is headed by Memento mori: An AIDS Requiem. Since its premiere in Atlanta in 1996, the requiem has been performed in New York City (Johannes Somary, conducting), San Francisco (under the direction of Joseph Jennings) and Tallinn, Estonia (under the baton of Ants Soots). A 75-minute work for men's chorus, soloists, and orchestra, Memento mori features a "range of expression [that] is expansive" and is "a unique, well-crafted, emotionally rich piece" (American Record Guide). Choral Journal hailed it as "a powerful and wrenching work," and Opera News noted that "the composer certainly hits all his marks." Four octavos from Memento mori are available through Subito Music; the entire work is represented by European American Music. It is featured in Robert Chase's book Memento Mori: A Guide to Contemporary Memorial Music (Scarecrow Press, 2007).

Audiophiles can enjoy Mr. Adler's music on the premiere recording of Memento mori by the AmorArtis Chorale and Orchestra under the direction of Mr. Somary. Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Victoria Livengood, a soloist on the Albany recording, presents the requiem's Pie Jesu on her disc "We Gather Together." In the summer of 2007, Capstone records released Nicholas Underhill's CD "Light and Sirius," featuring Mr. Adler's 3 Piano Transitions.

Other compositions by Mr. Adler include Reflections upon a September morn with poetry by Walt Whitman; On the Rebound, premiered by the Gregg Smith Singers; the often-performed Carols of Splendour, which premiered at Carnegie Hall; It's Gotta Be America, commissioned and performed for the Centennial Celebration of the Statue of Liberty; and Canticle For Peace, written and performed for the opening of the 43rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. Mr. Adler is the composer of Concerto in G for Piano and Orchestra, the children's "pOpera" Herbie and Carnie: A Dinosaga, the Classic Rag-time Suite for orchestra, numerous solo, chamber, and choral works, and the award-winning film score for The Hat Act.

Mr. Adler made his orchestral performing debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and has appeared in recital on the Orchestra's Allied Arts Piano Series. Other highlights include appearances on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts Series at the Chicago Cultural Center; featured soloist performances at Alice Tully Hall; and a special London orchestral performance at the Royal Albert Hall, broadcast by the BBC.

A native of Chicago, James Adler is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. A member of the Fine Arts Department faculty at Saint Peter's College (where he has also served as choral director), he has adjudicated at national and international music competitions and is the recipient of an award from ASCAP for outstanding composition achievement each year since 1978. He has received grants from Meet The Composer and from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and he is a laureate in Who's Who in American Music and the International Who's Who in Music.

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Last Update: November 2007