Pianist-Composer James Adler To Appear In Solo Recital At Yamaha Artist Services Piano Salon

Pianist and composer James Adler will give a solo recital to celebrate the launch of his most recent recording, Homages & Remembrances on Albany Records, at Yamaha Artist Services Piano Salon (689 5th Ave # 3, New York, NY 10022), Tuesday evening, November 12, 2019, at 7 pm. In homage to his older brother Norman, who died in 2016 and who was the first to encourage his musical studies, Mr. Adler programmed this repertoire with the idea of remembering the past.

The disc-recorded at Yamaha Artist Services Piano Salon in New York-features the world premiere recording of an original work for flute and piano, Elegy for Norman, dedicated to Mr. Adler's brother, performed by Mr. Adler and his frequent collaborator, flutist Cain-Oscar Bergeron. Also included on the disc are Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition alongside solo piano works by Paul Turok, Debussy, Mozart, and Henco Espag, with Mr. Adler at the piano.

Reviews for The Homages & Remembrances, have been highly positive; Remy Franck of Pizzicato wrote, "[James Adler's] genuine sound is a real pleasure" (September 9, 2019) and Bruce-Michael Gelbert of [Q]onStage noted "the emphasis here is on Adler's virtuoso pianism" (August 2019). Mark Estren of Infodad was particularly impressed with the Mussorgsky, writing, "Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition...gets an absolutely first-rate rendition here...[It] is in this piece that Adler shows his emotional (as opposed to merely technical) virtuosity, as he grasps the essence of each miniature and presents it with skill and refinement" (August 29, 2019).

Full program details for the November 12, 2019 recital follow:

Paul Turok: Passacaglia
James Adler: Prelude and Toccata
Claude Debussy: Deux Arabesques, L. 66
James Adler: Elegy for Norman with Cain-Oscar Bergeron, flute
Henco Espag: Herinneringe
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Prelude Op. 23, No. 6, in E-Flat Major
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Sonata in D Major, K. 311

General admission at $20; student and senior admission at $10, available for purchase through http://bit.ly/JamesAdlerInRecital.

James Adler is known as a pianist who "can create whatever type of music he wants at the keyboard" (Chicago Sun-Times, December 3, 1984) and a composer who writes "with uncommon imagination" (Derrick Henry, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 21, 1996).

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, March/April 2002). A Winter Triptych - about which Sonograma Magazine notes "delicacy and sensitivity are conveyed directly to the listener's heart" (July 29, 2018) - was recently recorded by the choir of Judson Memorial Church (NY) for Albany Records. In 2018, Mr. Adler premiered his Elegy for Norman for flute and piano, composed in honor of his late brother ("mournful indeed, but with a measure of reserve and dignity,"[Q]onStage). Other compositions include Reflections upon a September morn (poetry by Walt Whitman); Monday's Child, performed at The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine and at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Daughters of Music, commissioned by Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity Fort Worth Alumnae Chapter and performed at the SAI National Convention in 2018; Carols of Splendour, premiered at Carnegie Hall ("A cheerful, splashy tour de force, skillfully constructed and full of clever ideas," The Choral Journal, Conan Castle, November 1995); 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 and distributed by Luck's Music Library), 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 career highlights include appearances on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts Series at the Chicago Cultural Center; featured soloist performances at Alice Tully Hall and New York's Paramount Theatre at Madison Square Garden; and a special London orchestral performance at the Royal Albert Hall, broadcast by the BBC.

As a performer and composer, Mr. Adler can be heard on recordings from Albany Records, Capstone, Navona, and Ravello Records. He is a member of the Department of Fine Arts at Saint Peter's University, a National Arts Associate in the Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity and a 2018 inductee in the SAI Composer's Bureau. James Adler is a recipient of the 2017 Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. James Adler is a Yamaha Artist.