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).
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 Thessaloniki, Greece, to New York’s Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall Weill Recital Hall, Symphony Space, and the Paramount Theatre at Madison Square Garden.
As a performer and composer, Mr. Adler can be heard on recordings from Albany Records, Capstone, Navona, and Ravello Records. His albums, recorded at Yamaha Artist Services Piano Studio in New York City, have won multiple awards from the Intercontinental Music Awards, Global Music Awards, and the European International Music Awards for both his piano performances and his compositions.
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). His works have been premiered at The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the opening of the 43rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium and Weill Recital Halls, at the Centennial Celebration of the Statue of Liberty, and in Rome during the celebration of the papal Il Giubileo del 2025.
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, and an advisory board member of Sound Espressivo, which presents the “James Adler Audience Favorite Award” during their Laureate Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. James Adler has been a Yamaha Artist since 2006 and is a recipient of the 2017 Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.