August 2011
Cover article in NewMusicBox Web Magazine: "All Music Great and Small"
April 2010
NEWS RELEASE
American Academy of Arts and Letters
633 West 155 Street, New York, NY 10032
THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND LETTERS ANNOUNCES 2010 MUSIC AWARD WINNERS
Sixteen Composers Receive Awards Totaling $170,000
New York, March 4, 2010—The American Academy of Arts and Letters announced today the sixteen recipients of this year's awards in music, which total $170,000. The winners were selected by a committee of Academy members: Robert Beaser (chairman), Bernard Rands, Gunther Schuller, Steven Stucky, and Yehudi Wyner. The awards will be presented at the Academy's annual Ceremonial in May. Candidates for music awards are nominated by the 250 members of the Academy.
Academy Awards in Music
Four composers will each receive a $7500 Academy Award in Music, which honors outstanding artistic achievement and acknowledges the composer who has arrived at his or her own voice. Each will receive an additional $7500 toward the recording of one work. The winners are Daniel Asia, David Felder, Pierre Jalbert, and James Primosch.
THE ACADEMY
The American Academy of Arts and Letters was founded in 1898 to "foster, assist, and sustain an interest in literature, music, and the fine arts." Each year, the Academy honors over 50 composers, artists, architects, and writers with cash awards ranging from $5000 to $75,000. Other activities of the Academy are exhibitions of art, architecture, and manuscripts; purchases of art for donations to museums; publications on the Academy's history and events; publications on the Academy's history and readings and performances of new musicals. The Academy is located in three landmark buildings designed by McKim, Mead & White, Cass Gilbert, and Charles Pratt Huntington on Audubon Terrace at 155 Street and Broadway.
NEWS RELEASE
Pierre Jalbert of Stafford, Texas, was named the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA)-Shepherd Distinguished Composer of the Year for his work, Sonata for Piano, at the 2010 MTNA National Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, March 20-24. A press release is attached and posted below. For more information, contact:
Chad Schwalbach
Marketing & Public Relations Associate
MTNA
(888) 512-5278, Ext. 232
cschwalbach@mtna.org
CINCINNATI (April 2010)—Pierre Jalbert of Stafford, Texas, was named the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA)-Shepherd Distinguished Composer of the Year for his work, Sonata for Piano, at the 2010 MTNA National Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, March 20-24.
The MTNA-Shepherd Distinguished Composer of the Year Award is given to the composer of the outstanding composition submitted as a state-commissioned work. The award, in the amount of $3,000, is made available by the generosity of long-time MTNA member, Sylvia Shepherd.
Jalbert is associate professor at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music in Houston, and he serves as one of the artistic directors of Musiqa, a Houston-based contemporary chamber ensemble.
Jalbert earned widespread praise for his richly colored and superbly crafted scores. Among others, he has been honored with the Rome Prize, the BBC Masterprize and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's 2007 Stoeger Award, given biennially “in recognition of significant contributions to the chamber music repertory.”
His music has been performed throughout the United States and abroad, including four Carnegie Hall performances of his orchestral music, one of the more recent being the Houston Symphony's Carnegie Hall premiere of his orchestral work, big sky, in 2006. Jalbert has served as composer-in-residence with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, California Symphony, and Music in the Loft in Chicago. He has also written a Marimba Concerto for marimba virtuoso Makoto Nakura and a Horn Concerto for William Ver Meulen, prinicipal horn of the Houston Symphony.
MTNA is a nonprofit organization of nearly 24,000 independent and collegiate music teachers committed to furthering the art of music through teaching, performance, composition and scholarly research. Founded in 1876, MTNA is the oldest professional music teachers' association in the United States.
For more information about MTNA or the MTNA National Conference, please contact MTNA national headquarters at (513) 421-1420, (888) 512-5278, mtnanet@mtna.org or visit our website at www.mtna.org.
KUHF Houston Public Radio
Hear excerpts from works and discussion about two recordings from The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's 40th Anniversary Compact Disc, and an album by the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, called Against the Emptiness... Listen to radio interview
THE LOS ANGELES CHAMBER ORCHESTRA RELEASES NOTEWORTHY HIGHLIGHTS FROM 40 YEARS OF MUSIC LIVE PERFORMANCES FEATURED VIA DOWNLOAD ON YARLUNG RECORDS
Los Angeles, CA, (May 20, 2009) The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra closes its successful 40th anniversary season with the May 21, 2009 release of two highlights from the Orchestra's illustrious history. The downloadable album, made possible through Yarlung Records, is available on http://www.linnrecords.com and features live performances of Pierre Jalbert's Chamber Symphony and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15.
"We are pleased to make these extraordinary moments in LACO's history available to our audiences and thank Yarlung Records for the continued support of LACO and its mission," said Andrea Laguni, executive director of the Orchestra. "We're grateful to the Los Angeles Philanthropic Committee for the Arts for making this album possible."
The live performance recordings available in this release reflect LACO's dual focus on new works and classics composed for chamber orchestra. Performed at the 40th season opening night concert, this performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15 features current music director Jeffrey Kahane at the keyboard, conducted by founding LACO music director Neville Marriner, working together for the first time. The Los Angeles Times described this reflective performance as "stunning."
Jeffrey Kahane conducts Pierre Jalbert's Chamber Symphony, written in 2004 at the invitation of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's Sound Investment commissioning club during Jalbert's tenure as LACO composer-in-residence. The work is a beautiful example both of LACO's interest in promoting rising musicians and commitment to expanding the chamber music canon. Among the most highly regarded American composers of his generation, Jalbert is particularly noted for his mastery of instrumental color and for driving, percussive rhythms.
For more information and to download the album in full CD quality and high resolution 320k MP3 downloads, please visit www.linnrecords.com
February 2008To highlight the organizations's upcoming 50th Anniversary season, the Houston Friends of Music (HFM) have commissioned Pierre Jalbert to compose a full-length work for the Emerson String Quartet. The new piece will premiere at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music during the anniversary season. Dr. Ann Fairbanks, President, Houston Friends of Music, said, "The Emerson String Quartet has been a long-standing favorite of the Houston Friends of Music. We are delighted to combine the talents of this internationally renowned string quartet with composer Pierre Jalbert of Rice University. This commission creates a collaboration of talents and supporters which are very important to our organization." "I'm thrilled to be working with the Emerson Quartet and the Houston Friends of Music in honor of HFM's 50th Anniversary season", stated Pierre Jalbert. "I look forward to creating a work which will resonate here and beyond." Houston Friends of Music, founded in 1960, is the city's pre-eminent chamber music series, presenting nine ensembles of international stature per season. In order to promote interest in chamber music among young listeners, the organization provides free tickets for local high school and college students.
February 2008
The Vermont Symphony has commissioned Pierre Jalbert, who grew up in the state, to compose a new work for the orchestra's fall 2008 tour; Jaime Laredo, the ensemble's Music Director, will conduct. The new, as-yet-untitled piece will make its debut at Middlebury College on September 24, 2008, followed by performances at seven venues throughout Vermont and one in New Hampshire. Jalbert will accompany the orchestra on its tour to talk to audiences and greet well-wishers.
January 2008
The Caramoor Music Festival recently announced that it has commissioned Pierre Jalbert to write a work for the Escher String Quartet, the festival's 2007-08 ensemble-in-residence. The new work will make its debut at the festival on July 10, 2008. Following the work's premiere, the Escher String Quartet will take the score on tour to various venues, including the Louvre in Paris, in 2009.
December 2007
In the wake of Pierre Jalbert's Stoeger Prize, the composer's popularity among leading ensembles has increased exponentially. The celebrated duo of cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han, co-Artistic Directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, has commissioned Pierre Jalbert to compose a new cello sonata, which will receive its world premiere at the Aspen Music Festival on June 25, 2008, in a special concert at Harris Hall. The 21-minute piece, simply titled Cello Sonata, will also be recorded by the duo for an upcoming compact disc. Described by the Wall Street Journal as "America's power couple of chamber music," David Finckel and Wu Han are one of the leading cello-piano duos of our day. The Chicago Sun-Times stated, "When a pair of genuine artists explodes on the stage, exuding not only glamour and theatrical flair but also superb musical insight, the audience's thrill is twofold."
April 2007
Pierre Jalbert has been chosen by the South Bay Chamber Music Society (Los Angeles area) to receive the organization's first Opus Tomorrow commission. He will compose a string trio for the Janaki Trio, which in its first two years of existence has already won the Coleman and Concert Artists Guild International Competitions. The Trio, made up of violist Katie Kadarauch, violinist Serena McKinney, and cellist Arnold Choi, made its Carnegie Hall debut in early 2007, gaining praise from The New York Times for its "magnificently polished" playing. The new work will premiere in Fall 2008.
March 2007
At a special award ceremony at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center on Monday, March 20, composer Pierre Jalbert was awarded the Elise L. Stoeger Prize for Composition. The Stoeger Prize is a $25,000 cash award given every two years in recognition of significant contributions to the chamber music repertory. Mr. Jalbert accepted the award from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Co-Artistic Director Wu Han at the ceremony, which was hosted by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Resident Lecturer and Director of Family Programs Bruce Adolphe. The event, which included an interview with Mr. Jalbert and a live performance of a representative work by the Escher Quartet, was recorded for national radio distribution by the WFMT Radio Network. The Stoeger Prize for composers of chamber music was established by a generous gift from Milan Stoeger as a memorial to his wife, Elise, and in gratitude for the music that had been one of the principal joys of their lives. The Prize is awarded in recognition of achievement in the field of chamber music composition rather than for a specific work. Read more: New Music Box; Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center