Samuel Adler***

Multiple works by Samuel Adler were heard at the Music of the Americas Festival, May 2-5, 2005, at Youngstown (OH) State University, including Serenata Concertante for Soli and Wind Ensemble, Seven Epigrams for Woodwind Sextet, Canto XVI for Solo Viola, Four Dialogues for Euphonium and Marimba, and Concertino No. 3 for String Orchestra.

Premieres

Violist Randolph Kelly gave the premiere of Canto XVI on April 16, 2005, in Pittsburgh, PA. Fragments from The Song of Songs was first heard in a June 16 performance by mezzo-soprano Reut Benzev, clarinetist Karl-Heinz Steffens, and pianist Michael Friedlander in Berlin, Germany. Flutist Carol Wincene and pianist Stephen Gosling presented Sonata for Flute and Piano on September 14 in New York, NY, and Stephen Tharp premiered Sonata for Organ Solo November 9 in Turino, Italy. The Meadows Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Jack Delaney, performed Pygmalion, an overture for wind ensemble, in Dallas, TX.

Performances

String Quartet No. 3 was heard in performance April 22, 2005, in Tiffen, OH, and May 19 at the Hong Kong New Music Festival. Concerto for Viola and Orchestra was performed May 24 by soloist Li Yiyin with the New China Symphony conducted by Yongyan Hu. The Lawrence Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Andrew Mast, presented several of the composer’s works in a November 19 concert, including Pygmalion, Southwestern Sketches, To Celebrate a Miracle, and Little Night and Day Music. Joi Amor Cortezia for chamber orchestra was heard November 29 in a performance at Pacific Lutheran Church in Tacoma, WA.

Publications

Pygmalion, overture for wind ensemble, Carl Fischer. Fragments from The Song of Songs for mezzo-soprano, clarinet, and piano; In Praise of Labor for soprano and piano; Todesfuge for tenor and piano; all by Theodore Presser. Canto XVI for viola solo; Canto IV A for contrabass solo; both by Ludwig Music. Songs of the Seasons for treble choir, Boosey & Hawkes.

Recordings

A Festive Proclamation, organist William Neil; MSR Classics MS112
Voi Amar Cortezia for chamber orchestra, Bowling Green Philharmonia conducted by Emily Freeman Brown; Albany Troy T43.
A Prophecy of Peacethe Sacred Music of Samuel Adler, Gloria Dei Cantories under the direction of Elizabeth Patterson; Paraclete Press GDCD 036.

***SAI National Arts Associate

Further Information

• 2003-2004 American Composers Update
• 2002-2003 American Composers Update
• 2001-2002 American Composers Update
• 2000-2001 American Composers Update
• 1999-2000 American Composers Update
• 1998-1999 American Composers Update
• 1996-1997 American Composers Update
• SAI's Composers Bureau Online
• SAI's Music for Young People section