110. James Adler, pianist and composer

Sunday, April 28th, 2024 @2pm | “Reflection and Celebration”

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110.

Salon Concerts at Klavierhaus
Jed Distler, artistic director

presents

“Reflection and Celebration”

photo by Frank Gimpaya

James Adler, pianist and composer

Sunday, April 28th, 2024 @2pm

Live at Klavierhaus
790 11th Avenue
New York, NY 10019

Donate to Salon Concerts   Livestream link provided upon request.

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Dedicated to my good friend, and Engineer-Maestro
Joseph Patrych
Martin Patrych Memorial Studios
August 6, 1955 – December 18, 2023
Of blessed memory

Henco Espag
Mistieke Feetjies (“Mystical Fairies”) (2022)
Dedicated to James Adler

Paul Turok
Little Suite for Piano, Op. 9 (1976)
Prelude
Arabesque
Toccata
In celebration of a joyous friendship and collaboration

Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonata No. 21 in C Major, Op. 53 (“Waldstein”) (1804)
I. Allegro con Brio
II. Introduzione, Adagio molto
III. Rondo, Allegretto moderato – Prestissimo
Dedicated to Seymour Lipkin, Rudolf Serkin, and Eleanor Sokoloff,
my mentors at the Curtis Institute of Music

Robert Schumann
Kinderszenen (“Scenes from Childhood”), Op. 15 (1838)
1. Von fremden Ländern und Menschen (Of Foreign Lands and Peoples)
2. Kuriose Geschichte (A Curious Story)
3. Hasche-Mann (Blind Man’s Bluff)
4. Bittendes Kind (Pleading Child)
5. Glückes genug (Happy Enough)
6. Wichtige Begebenheit (An Important Event)
7. Träumerei (Dreaming)
8. Am Kamin (At the Fireside)
9. Ritter vom Steckenpferd (Knight of the Hobbyhorse)
10. Fast zu ernst (Almost Too Serious)
11. Fürchtenmachen (Frightening)
12. Kind im Einschlummern (Child Falling Asleep)
13. Der Dichter spricht (The Poet Speaks)

James Adler
A Curtis Reflection for Piano Solo (2022-2023)
I. 222 (222 W. Rittenhouse Square)
II. Parkway House (2201 Pennsylvania Avenue)
III. 1726 (1726 Locust Street)
Commissioned by, and Dedicated to,
The Curtis Institute of Music
In Celebration of their Centenary in 2024

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James Adler is a pianist who “can create whatever type of music he wants at the keyboard” (Chicago Sun-Times) and a composer who writes “with uncommon imagination” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution). The Curtis Institute of Music commissioned a new work from Mr. Adler as part of their Centenary Commissioning Initiative “100x100.” He presented the world premiere of A Curtis Reflection for piano solo in recital at the Yamaha Artist Services Studio NY in November for broadcast at Curtis during their Centenary Celebrations in 2024. In April, he appears in recital on the “Salon Concerts at Klavierhaus” series in New York, and also performs on the Arts on Bergen midday concert series at Saint Peter’s University. His Suite Moderne for Strings is featured at Virtual Concert Hall’s Laureate Gala on April 4 at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

In 2023, the Global Music Awards selected Mr. Adler as a Silver Medal Winner – Outstanding Achievement in the Composer category for his album That Star in the Picture. The album also landed on the 2023 Top 20 Classical (Vocal) recording list of textura. Luciano Feliciani (Kathodik) calls this “a disc of great value, to be savored slowly,” while Judith Clurman (Conductor, Essential Voices USA) notes that “James Adler writes beautiful melodies.” This “exquisite” (David DeBoor Canfield, Fanfare), “lovely collection of lighter songs” (Henry Fogel, Fanfare) features performances by cabaret artists Shana Farr and Michael Buchanan; Broadway performer Kennedy Kanagawa; Perry Sook and Elizaveta Ulakhovich; and Metropolitan Opera mezzo- soprano Victoria Livengood in a new chamber version of Pie Jesu from Memento mori: An AIDS Requiem.

Mr. Adler is honored to serve on the Sound Espressivo Advisory Board. Sound Espressivo - Virtual Classical/Jazz music is known for the competitions and events it hosts. In 2023-2024, performers will compete for in-person concerto appearances at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, as well as with other orchestras throughout the world. The “James Adler Audience Favorite Award” is presented during the Laureates Gala, and Mr. Adler, a known interpreter of Rachmaninoff’s music, serves as a judge for a special competition celebrating the life and music of Sergei Rachmaninoff.

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, and the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts Series. His appearances have brought him from Chicago’s Grant Park, to London’s Royal Albert Hall (broadcast by the BBC), to Thesseloniki, Greece, to New York’s Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Space, and the Paramount Theatre at Madison Square Garden.

His extensive list of compositions is headed by Memento mori: An AIDS Requiem. Performed worldwide, recorded by AmorArtis Chorale and Orchestra, and published by Alfred Music, Memento mori features a “range of expression [that] is expansive” and is “a unique, well-crafted, emotionally rich piece” (American Record Guide). Other compositions include Reflections upon a September morn (poetry by Walt Whitman); Songs of Innocence and of Experience (poetry by William Blake); A Winter Triptych (Albany Records); Monday’s Child, performed at The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine and at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Carols of Splendour, premiered at Carnegie Hall (“A cheerful, splashy tour de force, skillfully constructed and full of clever ideas,” The Choral Journal); It’s Gotta Be America, commissioned for the Centennial Celebration of the Statue of Liberty; and Canticle For Peace, written for the opening of the 43rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (published by Colla Voce Music). Mr. Adler is also the composer of Concerto in G for Piano and Orchestra (published by Alfred Music), 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.

As performer and composer, Mr. Adler can be heard on recordings from Albany Records, Capstone, Navona, and Ravello Records. He is a member of the Arts Department at Saint Peter’s University, a National Arts Associate in the Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity, a recipient of the 2017 Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2018 was selected for membership in the SAI Composer’s Bureau. In 2023, he was invited to join the Music Publishers Association of the United States. Mr. Adler is a Yamaha Artist.

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