COMPOSER | resident artist
ALEX WEISER
Broad gestures and rich textures are hallmarks of the “compelling” (The New York Times), “deliciously wistful” (San Francisco Classical Voice), “personal, expressive, and bold,” (I Care If You Listen) music of composer Alex Weiser. Born and raised in New York City, Weiser creates acutely cosmopolitan music combining a deeply felt historical perspective with a vibrant forward-looking creativity. Weiser’s debut album, and all the days were purple, was named a 2020 Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Music. Released by Cantaloupe Music in April 2019, the album includes songs in Yiddish and English and has been praised as “ravishing” (The New Yorker) and “utterly original and exquisitely unsettling... pitch-perfect.” (In Geveb). Additional feature recordings include Weiser’s water hollows stone, a multi-movement four hand piano work written for HOCKET piano duo (Sarah Gibson and Thomas Kotcheff; 2022 Bright Shiny Things) and two songs cycles: in a dark blue night (which sets to music Yiddish poetry about New York City at night), and Coney Island Days (which explores the Jewish immigrant word of Coney Island in the 1930s and 40s) soon to be released by singer Annie Rosen.
Active as an opera composer, Weiser currently has two works in development. Tevye’s Daughters, with librettist Stephanie Fleischmann, is a commission from American Lyric Theater. Based on Sholem Aleichem’s iconic Yiddish stories, it explores the tragic death of Tevye’s lesser-known daughter, Shprintse. The opera also traces the lasting impact of Shprintse’s fate on her sisters who are now elderly and living in New York. The Great Dictionary of the Yiddish Language with librettist Ben Kaplan is set in 1950s post-war New York and follows linguist Yudel Mark as he sets out to write the world’s first fully comprehensive Yiddish dictionary — an effort of linguistic preservation, and a memorial to the dead.
An energetic advocate for contemporary classical music and for the work of his peers, Weiser co-founded and serves as Director of Kettle Corn New Music, an “ever-enjoyable” and “engaging” concert series which “creates that ideal listening environment that so many institutions aim for: relaxed, yet allowing for concentration” (The New York Times), and was for nearly five years a director of the MATA Festival, “the city’s leading showcase for vital new music by emerging composers” (The New Yorker). Weiser also serves as the Director of Public Programs at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research where he curates and produces programs that combine a fascination with and curiosity for historical context, with an eye toward influential Jewish contributions to the culture of today and tomorrow. At YIVO Weiser has commissioned over fifteen works from some of today’s leading composers that were featured in concerts he curated.
Upcoming Performances:
November 2024: Tevye's Daughters Orchestral Workshop
Librettist Stephanie Fleischmann
American Lyric Theater (New York)
In Development/Commissions:
Tevye's Daughters (Librettist Stephanie Fleischmann), American Lyric Theater
The Great Dictionary of the Yiddish Language (Librettist Ben Kaplan), American Opera Project
Tfiles Clarinet Concerto, POLIN Museum