James Adler

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). His latest album, Reflections, features “A Curtis Reflection,” commissioned by the Curtis Institute of Music as part of their 100x100 Centenary Commissioning Initiative. Henry Fogel, in his five-star review, says the work “exhibits wit, a melodic gift, a very natural feel for the keyboard, and coloristic imagination” (Fanfare). This season Mr. Adler has been commissioned by Saint Peter’s University to compose “New Beginnings” for a December premiere at Lessons & Carols. He appears in recital in October on the Interchurch Center Concert Series in New York City, and a return performance in April 2025 on the Arts on Bergen Concert Series. He joins QUO Orchestra for two performances of  “Rhapsody in Blue” in March 2025.

Mr. Adler's album Reflections was awarded the Silver Medal – Outstanding Achievement in the 2024 Global Music Awards in both the instrumentalist and album categories. His album, That Star in the Picture, is a double-award winner in the 2024 Intercontinental Music Awards Pangea Classical Category. The album was also recognized in 2023 by the Global Music Awards as a Silver Medal Winner – Outstanding Achievement in the Composer category, and it 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.” This “exquisite” (David DeBoor Canfield, Fanfare), “lovely collection of lighter songs” (Henry Fogel, Fanfare) features Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Victoria Livengood in a 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 2024-2025, 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.

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.

Elegy Artist Management • elegyartistmanagement.com
www.adleroaksmusic.com
November 2024

Photo: Frank Gimpaya