Christopher Adler (born 1972) is a musician, composer and music professor at University of San Diego. A virtuoso player of the khaen, a reed instrument native to Laos and Thailand, he has been composing works for the khaen both as a solo instrument and in combination with western instruments since 1996.[1] His works for solo piano include the three-part Bear Woman Dances, commissioned to accompany a dance depicting a Korean creation myth and largely based the Korean musical system nongak.[2] Four of his compositions have been broadcast internationally on WGBH's Art of the States series.[3][4] His composition for sheng, viola and percussion, Music for a Royal Palace, was commissioned by Carnegie Hall for Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project. An homage to Thailand's Bang Pa-In Palace, the work incorporates traditional Thai melody and embellishments. It was performed at Zankel Hall in 2006 and recorded at the Tanglewood Music Center that same year.[5][6] His Serpent of Five Tongues for sheng and guanzi (traditional Chinese instruments) premiered at the 2011 MATA Festival.[7]

Biography

Adler was born in Mountain View, California and grew up in Falls Church, Virginia. He developed a connection with music at a young age, playing the pipe organ at the church where his mother worked in Falls Church, (which he would continue to do until his move to San Diego).[8]

He attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an undergraduate hoping to major in Mathematics and Physics, but instead earned bachelor's degrees in Mathematics and Composition. One of his mentors there was Professor Evan Ziporyn, who would later be the one to encourage him to play a non-Western instrument. He was first introduced to traditional Thai music, as well as the Khaen specifically, while attending MIT in 1994, during a Smithsonian Folk Life Festival in Washington D.C. He went on to receive his PhD in Composition from Duke University.[8][9]

Adler has lived in San Diego since 1999 where he is a professor in the Asian Studies and Music departments at the University of San Diego.[10] He also engages in several organizations and festivals that center around contemporary and experimental chamber music.

His wife, Supeena Insee Adler, is also a musician who specializes in traditional Thai music.[9]

Musical career

Adler's works have been performed at Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony Center, Tanglewood, Merkin Hall, Shanghai Symphony Hall, the Bang on a Can Marathon, Music at the Anthology, and the Cultural Center of Chicago, the Seoul Arts Center, Sumida Triphony Hall in Tokyo and at new music festivals and universities across the US. by ensembles including the Silk Road Ensemble, red fish blue fish, Ensemble ACJW, the Da Capo Chamber Players. His works have been broadcast and webcast internationally on WGBH's Art of the States,[3] WQXR's Cued Up[11] and BBC Radio 3.[12]

Recordings of Adler's music include:

Adler's retrospective analysis of his first ten years of cross-cultural composition was published in John Zorn's Arcana II: Musicians on Music (Hips Road, 2007).[16]

References

  1. ↑ Shepherd, John (2003). Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Vol II, p. 486. A&C Black. ISBN 0826463223
  2. ↑ Arciuli, Emanuele (2010). Musica per pianoforte negli Stati Uniti: Autori, opere, storia, p. 256. EDT srl. ISBN 8860405246 (in Italian)
  3. 1 2 MacBlane, Amanda (24 March 2003). "Siberia to Cyberia: “Art of the States” Comes to the Web". New Music Box. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  4. ↑ WGBH. Art of the States: Christopher Adler (b. 1972) (archived from the original on 3 August 2012). Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  5. ↑ Schweitzer, Vivien (15 September 2006). "Yo-Yo Ma and Silk Road Ensemble Give Concert Weekend at Carnegie's Zankel Hall". Playbill. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  6. ↑ Carnegie Hall (2006). New Music at Carnegie Hall Commissions: Music for a Royal Palace Archived 2016-08-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  7. ↑ Kozinn, Allan (11 May 2011). "Review: Seven Composers, Seven Countries". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  8. 1 2 Scher, Valerie. (5 March 2006). "Composer’s at Home on an Exotic Instrument" Archived 2016-08-06 at the Wayback Machine. San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  9. 1 2 Nichols, Catherine. (March–April 2007). "Composer's Work Premieres at Carnegie Hall" Archived 2011-08-06 at the Wayback Machine. MIT Technology Review (republished on MIT Alumni News. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  10. ↑ University of San Diego. Faculty biography: Christopher Adler, PhD.. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  11. ↑ WQXR (18 September 2011). "MATA Festival, 2011: Opening Night". Cued Up. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  12. ↑ BBC Radio 3 (16 October 2008). Late Junction. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  13. ↑ OCLC 056699501
  14. ↑ OCLC 823305102
  15. ↑ OCLC 811457706
  16. ↑ Library of Congress bibliographic record. Table of Contents for Arcana II: Musicians on Music, edited by John Zorn. Retrieved 9 June 2009
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