ADRIENNE ALBERT BIOGRAPHY

A graduate of UCLA in music and the child of European trained professional violinists, Adrienne began studying the piano at age 4 and composition at 10. She had the good fortune to have had great teachers: for piano, Jacob Gimpel and Aube Tzerko in Los Angeles, Joanna Graudan at the Aspen Music School and early composition studies with Saul Kaplan and Leonard Stein. After enjoying a lengthy hiatus performing other people’s music, she returned to studying composition with Stephen “Lucky” Mosko at CalArts and orchestration with Albert Harris.

"Music has always been a central part of my life. Whether it has been performing, singing, or composing, it is the thread that weaves through each part of my being. I find joy in every form of music, and my life has been an eclectic patchwork of music ranging from avant- garde 20th century vocal and choral music to Baroque, ethnic, folk music, jazz, popular, and of course, classical music. We are each an amalgam of our pasts, influenced by our individual experiences, and I have been extremely fortunate in having an extraordinary past which informs my present and makes me look forward with great enthusiasm to the future."

COMPOSITIONS
Long a collaborator with other composers, (Igor Stravinsky, Leonard Bernstein, Philip Glass and Gunther Schuller to name a few), Adrienne Albert began composing her own music in the 1990s. In little more than a decade, her concert works have been widely performed throughout the United States, Mexico, Europe, Thailand, China and South Africa.

Adrienne was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts grant through The American Composers Forum for the Continental Harmony project in the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska (2006-2007). She made numerous trips to the region and composed a three movement work based on her experiences in this area of Alaska, south of Anchorage. Titled "Alaskan Symphony", the work is scored for orchestra and chorus and had its premiere performances in Alaska in 2007.

Commissions for 2009 include a large scale choral work based on an adaptation by writer Susan Suntree, of The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, an as-yet Untitled Piano Trio co-commissioned by The Newstead Trio and Carol Gee, and a work for Wind Band titled "Courage for Winds" commissioned by the Inland Empire Wind Band Orchestras . In addition, Adrienne is working on her own CD of recent chamber works that she hopes to have available by summer of 2009. 2008 brought commissions from Chamber Music Palisades for flute, violin, viola and cello titled "Americana"; "Wind Tides", commissioned by Andrew Malloy for trombone and piano, and two works commissioned by Contrabass flutist, Peter Sheridan, titled "Two for Two". She also transcribed several versions of Lullaby, the middle movement of her 2007 commission by Pacific Serenades.

In 2007, Adrienne composed several commissions including Between the dark and daylight, a three-movement work for flute, violin, viola, cello and harp (Nightdreams, Lullaby, and Daydreams) for Pacific Serenades which premiered in April of 2007, an Evensong Cycle commissioned by St. Bedes Church in Mar Vista, CA. that premiered in May, 2007.

She is former Composer-In-Residence for both The Wagner Ensemble and The Los Angeles Doctors Symphony Orchestra who commissioned two orchestralworks, "Courage" (2000) and "Western Suite" (1999), both of which were premiered by LADSO on the West Coast and have had numerous performances across the country including performances by Virginia Symphony Orchestra, The Hewlett-Packard Symphony Orchestra, The Old Post Road Orchestra, the Carson City Symphony, Kona Symphony and the Conway Symphony Orchestra in Central Arkansas among many others. "Courage for Winds "(2009) has just been commissioned by a Consortium of Wind Bands headed by Jeffrey Boeckman, Director of the Inland Empire Youth Wind Symphonyand had its world premiere by the IEYWS on May 17, 2009 with Dr. Boeckman conducting.

Adrienne's popular "Western Suite"; was recorded for ABC Classics by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra with Sean O'Boyle conducting on a CD titled "Soliloquy"; Numerous chamber works have been performed across the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe.

One of her most performed works, Adrienne's “Doppler Effect” (which was originally composed for flute, viola and harp) is now is transcribed by the composer for close to a dozen other instrumentations.

Other recent works include “Mirror Images”, for saxophone quartet, clarinet quartet and flute quartet, "Fanfare for 13 Brass" which was performed by the Hollywood Brass. A work for saxophone and guitar, commissioned by Drs. Alan Durst and Corey Whitehead in 2006 titled “L.A. Tango Nuevo” is going to be recorded for their upcoming CD on Centaur Records.

Her choral works have had premieres by the The Gregg Smith Singers in New York. “Meditation” and “Night” were both premiered by the GSS and more recently, she received a commission from the GSS to compose a work for them which they premiered at Saranac Lake, NY in the summer of 2006.

Adrienne has received numerous consecutive ASCAP Awards, several Meet The Composer grants and a number of Copying Assistance Program grants.

Her first major commission was from The Henry Mancini Institute to compose "Serenade For Alto Sax, Trumpet and Orchestra" , a cross-over work for which she conducted The Mancini Institute Orchestra in the premiere performance at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach, CA. in August of 1997.

VOCAL CREDITS
Ms. Albert”s vocal career began while attending UCLA, singing with The Gregg Smith Singers and The Roger Wagner Chorale. Igor Stravinsky discovered her “perfect boy alto” voice and hired her to be the alto soloist on his “Mass”. She worked with the Maestro on numerous occasions and recorded three more solo recordings with him, including his “Four Russian Songs For Flute, Harp, Guitar, and Voice”, “Cantata”, and Stravinsky”s last song, “The Owl And The Pussycat”, with Robert Craft accompanying. .

Ms. Albert enjoyed a long working relationship with Leonard Bernstein as a singer and contractor on his celebrated recordings of “Mass”, (the premiere of which opened the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC), and “West Side Story”, on which she contracted the Jets and Sharks, performing with Kiri Te Kanawa and Jose Carreras. She also sang with Barbara Hendricks at Bernstein”s 70th birthday celebration in Tanglewood under the baton of John Williams. Other solo recordings include songs of Charles Ives with The Columbia Symphony and Phillip Glass” opera, “The Photographer”, with Glass conducting.

At Avery Fisher Hall, she performed with Gunther Schuller and the New York Philharmonic in a premiere of Schuller”s “Symphonia for Four Voices and Orchestra”. As a studio singer in New York and Los Angeles, Ms. Albert performed on hundreds of television and radio commercials, sang on countless film scores and worked with such diverse artists as Pablo Casals, Benny Golson, Dave Grusin, Lieber and Stoller, Zubin Mehta, Frank Sinatra, and Michael Tilson Thomas.

FILM & TELEVISION CREDITS
As an arranger/conductor, Adrienne wrote the arrangements based on the 1941 Paul Robeson recordings of Negro spirituals for Sidney Lumet's movie, "Daniel". She conducted the choir for the film scores of the movies, "The Verdict" as well as “Daniel”.. She received a Certificate in Film Scoring from UCLA in 1996 and participated in the ASCAP/Film Scoring workshop in Los Angeles.

TEACHING CREDENTIALS
With a teaching credential in music education, Ms. Albert taught award-winning choirs in the Los Angeles and Santa Monica City school systems. Her radio program on WKTU_FM in New York was a hit among youngsters and was known nationally. In addition, she co-founded the Children to Children choir, which performed at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall and composed a song titled "Children to Children".

ORGANIZATIONS
Ms. Albert is past President of the Los Angeles Alumni Chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon Music Fraternity. She is a member of the LA Composers Forum, SAG, AFTRA, The American Music Center, American Composers Forum, International Alliance for Women In Music (IAWM), The Dominant Club, NACUSA and ASCAP.