Samuel Adler (composer)
Encyclopedia
Samuel Hans Adler is an American
(German
-born) composer
and conductor
.
, Germany
, the son of Hugo Chaim Adler
, a cantor
and composer, and Selma Adler. The family fled to the United States in 1939, where Hugo became the cantor of Temple Emanuel
in Worcester, Massachusetts
. Sam followed his father into the music profession, earning degrees from Boston University
and Harvard University
(where he studied with Aaron Copland
, Paul Hindemith
, Paul Pisk
, Walter Piston
, and Randall Thompson
and earned an M.A. in 1950). He studied conducting with Serge Koussevitzky
at Tanglewood
in 1949. Adler has been awarded honorary doctorates from Southern Methodist and Wake Forest Universities, St. Mary’s College of Notre Dame and the St. Louis Conservatory of Music.
While serving in the United States Army
(1950–1952), Adler founded and conducted the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra. After his military service he was offered a conducting position just vacated by Leonard Bernstein
on the faculty of Brandeis University
but instead accepted a position as music director at Temple Emanu-El
in Dallas, Texas
, where the rabbi
, Levi Olan
, was a friend of Adler's family. Adler began his tenure in Dallas in 1953. At the Dallas temple he formed a children's choir and an adult choir and made the latter a prominent part of the religious services, often performing contemporary Jewish choral works that might otherwise have been neglected. From 1954 to 1958 Adler conducted the Dallas Lyric Theater. Adler is married to Dr. Emily Freeman-Brown of Bowling Green State University, who serves as Director of Orchestral Activities.
University of North Texas College of Music
Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester
Juilliard School
Adler has given master classes and workshops at over 300 universities worldwide, and in the summers has taught at major music festivals such as Tanglewood, Aspen, Brevard, Bowdoin, as well as others in France, Germany, Israel, Spain, Austria, Poland, South America and Korea. He is also the author of three books, Choral Conducting (Holt Reinhart and Winston 1971, second edition Schirmer Books 1985), Sight Singing (W.W. Norton 1979, 1997), and The Study of Orchestration (W.W. Norton 1982, 1989, 2001; Italian edition edited by Lorenzo Ferrero
for EDT Srl Torino, 2008). He has also contributed numerous articles to major magazines, books and encyclopaedias published in the U.S. and abroad.
.
, piano
, violin
, viola
or clarinet
, cello
, flute
, guitar
, saxophone quartet, woodwind quintet), many shorter orchestral works, works for wind ensemble and band, chamber music, a great deal of choral music and songs.
in New York City
. Among his most successful students are composers Kamran Ince
, Eric Ewazen
, Claude Baker
, Michael Isaacson
, Marc Mellits
, Robert Paterson
, Gordon Stout
, Michael Glenn Williams
and Roger Briggs
.
Other students
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-born) composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
.
Biography
Adler was born to a Jewish family in MannheimMannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the son of Hugo Chaim Adler
Hugo Chaim Adler
Hugo Chaim Adler was a Belgian composer, cantor, and choir conductor. Born in Antwerp to Jewish parents, Adler studied at the Hochschule für Musik Köln from 1912-1915. In 1915 he was drafted into the German Army during the First World War; serving for three years in the infantry until he was...
, a cantor
Hazzan
A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish cantor, a musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer.There are many rules relating to how a cantor should lead services, but the idea of a cantor as a paid professional does not exist in classical rabbinic sources...
and composer, and Selma Adler. The family fled to the United States in 1939, where Hugo became the cantor of Temple Emanuel
Temple Emanuel (Worcester, Massachusetts)
Temple Emanuel is a leading Reform Jewish synagogue located in Worcester, Massachusetts, affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism. Founded in 1921, it is the oldest and largest Reform congregation in Worcester. The current building was constructed in 1949 and greatly expanded in 1961 when...
in Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
. Sam followed his father into the music profession, earning degrees from Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
and Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
(where he studied with Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
, Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
, Paul Pisk
Paul Pisk
Paul Amadeus Pisk was an Austria-born composer and musicologist. A prize named in his honor is the highest award for a graduate student paper at the annual meeting of the American Musicological Society....
, Walter Piston
Walter Piston
Walter Hamor Piston Jr., , was an American composer of classical music, music theorist and professor of music at Harvard University whose students included Leroy Anderson, Leonard Bernstein, and Elliott Carter....
, and Randall Thompson
Randall Thompson
Randall Thompson was an American composer, particularly noted for his choral works.-Career:He attended Harvard University, became assistant professor of music and choir director at Wellesley College, and received a doctorate in music from the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music...
and earned an M.A. in 1950). He studied conducting with Serge Koussevitzky
Serge Koussevitzky
Serge Koussevitzky , was a Russian-born Jewish conductor, composer and double-bassist, known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949.-Early career:...
at Tanglewood
Tanglewood
Tanglewood is an estate and music venue in Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It is the home of the annual summer Tanglewood Music Festival and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, and has been the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home since 1937. It was the venue of the Berkshire Festival.- History...
in 1949. Adler has been awarded honorary doctorates from Southern Methodist and Wake Forest Universities, St. Mary’s College of Notre Dame and the St. Louis Conservatory of Music.
While serving in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
(1950–1952), Adler founded and conducted the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra. After his military service he was offered a conducting position just vacated by Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
on the faculty of Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
but instead accepted a position as music director at Temple Emanu-El
Temple Emanu-El of Dallas
Temple Emanu-El of Dallas, Texas was the first Reform Jewish congregation in North Texas, and is the largest synagogue in the South.- History :...
in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, where the rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
, Levi Olan
Levi Olan
Rabbi Levi Arthur Olan was born in Cherkasy, Ukraine. From 1949 to 1970 he was Rabbi of Temple Emanu-El of Dallas, Texas. Prior to that, from 1929 to 1948, he was Rabbi of Temple Emanuel in Worcester, Massachusetts ....
, was a friend of Adler's family. Adler began his tenure in Dallas in 1953. At the Dallas temple he formed a children's choir and an adult choir and made the latter a prominent part of the religious services, often performing contemporary Jewish choral works that might otherwise have been neglected. From 1954 to 1958 Adler conducted the Dallas Lyric Theater. Adler is married to Dr. Emily Freeman-Brown of Bowling Green State University, who serves as Director of Orchestral Activities.
University of North Texas College of Music
- 1957-1966 — Adler served as Professor of Composition at the University of North Texas College of MusicUniversity of North Texas College of MusicThe University of North Texas College of Music, based in Denton, is a comprehensive music school with the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, and the oldest in the world offering a degree in jazz studies...
.
Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester
- 1966-1995 — Adler served as Professor of Composition at the Eastman School of MusicEastman School of MusicThe Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
Juilliard School
- 1997–Present — Adler has been a member of the composition faculty at Juilliard and, for the 2009-10 year, was awarded the William Schuman Scholars Chair
Adler has given master classes and workshops at over 300 universities worldwide, and in the summers has taught at major music festivals such as Tanglewood, Aspen, Brevard, Bowdoin, as well as others in France, Germany, Israel, Spain, Austria, Poland, South America and Korea. He is also the author of three books, Choral Conducting (Holt Reinhart and Winston 1971, second edition Schirmer Books 1985), Sight Singing (W.W. Norton 1979, 1997), and The Study of Orchestration (W.W. Norton 1982, 1989, 2001; Italian edition edited by Lorenzo Ferrero
Lorenzo Ferrero
Lorenzo Ferrero is a contemporary Italian composer with a predilection for opera, a librettist, author, and book editor. He started composing at an early age and wrote over a hundred compositions thus far, including twelve operas, three ballets, and numerous orchestral, chamber music, solo...
for EDT Srl Torino, 2008). He has also contributed numerous articles to major magazines, books and encyclopaedias published in the U.S. and abroad.
Awards
Adler has been awarded many prizes, including a membership into the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters awarded in May 2001, the Charles Ives Award, the Lillian Fairchild Award, etc. In May, 2003, he was presented with the Aaron Copland Award by ASCAP for Lifetime Achievement in Music (Composition and Teaching). In 2008 he was inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame. In 1999, he was elected to the Akademie der Künste in Germany for distinguished service to music. In 1983, he won the Deems Taylor Award for his book on orchestration; in 1984, he was appointed Honorary Professorial Fellow of the University College in Cardiff, Wales, and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for 1984-85. He has been a MacDowell Fellow for five years between 1954 and 1963. In 1986 he received the "Distinguished Alumni Award" from Boston University. The Music Teachers' National Association selected Adler as its "Composer of the Year 1986-87" for Quintalogues, which won the national competition. In the 1988-89 year, he has been designated "Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar." In 1989, he was awarded The Eastman School's Eisenhart Award for distinguished teaching, and he has been given the honour of Composer of the Year (1991) for the American Guild of Organists. During his second visit to Chile, Adler was elected to the Chilean Academy of Fine Arts (1993) "for his outstanding contributions to the world of music as composer, conductor, and author." He was initiated as an honorary member of member of the Gamma Theta (1960, University of North Texas) and the Alpha Alpha (1966, National Honorary) chapters of Phi Mu Alpha SinfoniaPhi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music...
.
Works
Adler's catalogue includes over 400 published works in all media, including five operas, six symphonies, eight string quartets, at least eleven concerti (organOrgan (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
or clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, saxophone quartet, woodwind quintet), many shorter orchestral works, works for wind ensemble and band, chamber music, a great deal of choral music and songs.
Notable students
Since 1997 he has been a member of the composition faculty at the Juilliard SchoolJuilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Among his most successful students are composers Kamran Ince
Kamran Ince
Kamran N. İnce is a Turkish-American composer.- Life :Ince was born in Glendive, Montana, and at the age of six moved with his family to Turkey. He entered the Ankara State Conservatory at the age of ten, in 1971, where he began studying cello and piano, and took composition lessons with İlhan Baran...
, Eric Ewazen
Eric Ewazen
Eric Ewazen is an American composer and teacher. Ewazen studied composition under Samuel Adler, Milton Babbitt, Gunther Schuller, Joseph Schwantner, Warren Benson, and Eugene Kurtz at the Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School...
, Claude Baker
Claude Baker
W. Claude Baker Jr. is an American composer of contemporary classical music.Claude Baker attained a B.M. degree, magna cum laude, from East Carolina University in 1970. He subsequently studied composition at the Eastman School of Music with Samuel Adler and Warren Benson, and holds M.M. and D.M.A...
, Michael Isaacson
Michael Isaacson
Michael Isaacson is an influential composer of Jewish synagogue music, as well as one of the originators of the Jewish Camp Song movement...
, Marc Mellits
Marc Mellits
Marc Mellits is an American composer and musician.Mellits was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He studied at the Eastman School of Music from 1984 to 1988, the Yale School of Music from 1989 to 1991, Cornell University from 1991 to 1996, and at Tanglewood in the summer of 1997...
, Robert Paterson
Robert Paterson
Robert Paterson may refer to:* Robert Paterson , Scottish stonemason* Robert Paterson , Anglican Bishop of Sodor and Man, Isle of Man* Robert Paterson , American composer*Robert Paterson...
, Gordon Stout
Gordon Stout
Gordon Stout is an American percussionist, composer, and educator specializing in the marimba.He studied composition with Joseph Schwantner, Samuel Adler, and Warren Benson, and percussion with James Salmon and John Beck...
, Michael Glenn Williams
Michael Glenn Williams
Michael Glenn Williams is an American composer, pianist and technologist.-Biography:Williams' earliest years were spent in New York, beginning trumpet studies and composing at 8 years old. At 12 he was programming DEC PDP 8 minicomputers...
and Roger Briggs
Roger Briggs
Roger Briggs is an American composer, conductor, pianist, and educator.- Biography :Roger Briggs, born and raised in Florence, Alabama, began playing the piano at age 8 and composing by age 11. His earliest teachers were Norman Hill and Walter Urben who taught at the University of North Alabama...
.
Other students
- Jason Robert BrownJason Robert BrownJason Robert Brown is an American musical theater composer, lyricist, and playwright. Brown's music sensibility fuses pop-rock stylings with theatrical lyrics...
- Greg DannerGreg DannerGreg Danner is an award-winning contemporary American composer, educator, and professional musician. He is currently the composer-in-residence and professor at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tennessee. He is the 2010 Composer's Guild Grand Prize winner.-Biography:Danner was born May 16,...
- Eric EwazenEric EwazenEric Ewazen is an American composer and teacher. Ewazen studied composition under Samuel Adler, Milton Babbitt, Gunther Schuller, Joseph Schwantner, Warren Benson, and Eugene Kurtz at the Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School...
- Jay GreenbergJay GreenbergJay "Bluejay" Greenberg is an American composer who entered the Juilliard School in 2002.-Life and work:...
- Anthony IannacconeAnthony IannacconeAnthony Iannaccone is a composer and conductor. His music has been performed by major orchestras and chamber ensembles, and he has conducted numerous regional and metropolitan orchestras in the United States and in Europe...
- Scott LindrothScott LindrothScott Lindroth is an American composer and teacher currently based near Durham, North Carolina.Lindroth joined the faculty of Duke University in 1990, where he is currently the Vice-Provost for the Arts and the Kevin D. Gorter Associate Professor of Music; his colleagues at Duke include composers...
- Carter PannCarter PannCarter Pann is an American composer. He studied composition and piano at the Eastman School of Music and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree...
- Paul PhillipsPaul Phillips (conductor)Paul Schuyler Phillips is an American conductor, composer and music scholar. He is Director of Orchestras and Chamber Music, with the rank of Senior Lecturer in Music, at Brown University. He is also Music Director and Conductor of the Pioneer Valley Symphony and Chorus, and maintains an...
- Kevin PutsKevin PutsKevin Matthew Puts is an American composer.-Life:Puts studied composition and piano at the Eastman School of Music and Yale University, earning the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Eastman. Among his teachers were Samuel Adler, Jacob Druckman, David Lang, Christopher Rouse, Joseph Schwantner,...
- Michael Alec RoseMichael Alec RoseMichael Alec Rose composes a variety of chamber and symphonic music for many distinguished performers and venues.Rose is Associate Professor of Composition at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music. His awards and commissions include the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation’s chamber music...
- Michael Sidney TimpsonMichael Sidney TimpsonMichael Sidney Timpson is an American composer of contemporary classical music.Although clearly a composer of the concert art-music genre, his definitive style combines elements of European, American, and Asian musical sources...
- Fisher TullFisher TullFisher Aubrey Tull, Jr. , known professionally as Fisher A. Tull, aka Mickey Tull, was an American composer, arranger, educator, administrator, and trumpeter.-Life and career:...
- Dan WelcherDan WelcherDan Welcher is an American composer, conductor, and music educator.- Biography :Welcher was born in Rochester, New York and earned degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, studying bassoon, piano, and composition...
- Dana WilsonDana WilsonDana Richard Wilson is an American composer, jazz pianist, and teacher. Wilson currently resides in Ithaca, New York.Wilson's music has been commissioned and performed by such ensembles as the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, Buffalo Philharmonic, Memphis Symphony,...
- Ye XiaogangYe XiaogangYe Xiaogang is a Chinese composer of contemporary classical music. He is originally Cantonese but spent his early years in Shanghai. He studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing from 1978 to 1983 and at the Eastman School of Music beginning in 1987...