Biography

Aaron Alter is a composer from Carlsbad, California.  His new music, which he calls his "New Beginning" is an exploration of a new style and energy that defies categorization.    

A native of Chicago, Aaron Alter's musical background was a product of the rich musical life that he found growing up in the Windy City.  While a high-school student, Aaron studied Jazz Piano with Alan Swain and Classical Piano with Helen Engler at the Chicago Conservatory of Music. For two years, while in high school, Aaron played piano in a band led by the legendary Chicago-based saxophonist Fred Anderson (Aaron's work for violin and piano, “For Fred” was written in memory of Fred Anderson.) Aaron received his Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University, where he studied piano with Frances Larimer and Gui Mombaerts, and composition with Lynden DeYoung and David Noon. He received his Master of Fine Arts Degree from Princeton University, where he studied with Milton Babbitt and James K. Randall.  

After a long hiatus, Aaron re-emerged in 2012 with a new style and energy to his compositions, which he calls his “New Beginning.” Aaron's new music was first performed in 2015, with the performance of “Homage to Josquin” for two flutes, piano, electric bass and drum set by The New Mexico Performing Arts Society in Santa Fe, New Mexico. “Homage to Josquin” received an Honorable Mention in the 2016 American Prize competition for Chamber Music Composition.

Aaron Alter's music is published by Universal Edition and SilverWinds Publishing.

Works such as "Solar Rays" and "Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry" defy genres and exist in Classical ensemble and Jazz Big Band versions. Both the classical piano trio (piano, violin and ‘cello) and Jazz Big Band versions of “Solar Rays” have received Silver medals at the Global Music Awards. Aaron’s Introspective Blues #1 for Flute and Harp has become his most popular work, with over 45,000 plays on Jango Internet Radio and over 27,000 plays on SoundCloud.  Aaron’s music has been featured on the albums “One Minute”, “Two Minutes”, “Gimel” and “Daleth”, by the flutist Iwona Glinka on the Sarton and Phasma Music labels, all of which have won Silver Medals at the Global Music Awards.  In 2019, two albums containing Aaron's music were released by Iwona Glinka on the Phasma Music label, "Four Minutes" and "Zayin." The world premiere recording of Aaron's Piano Sonata (inspired by Beethoven), was released by the pianist and Steinway Artist, Susan Merdinger on her album, "American Melting Pot" in 2020 (the 250th anniversary year of Beethoven's birth.) "American Melting Pot" received a Gold Medal at the 2020 Global Music Awards.  In 2021, Phasma Music released five new albums containing Aaron's music, "New Music for String Quartet", "Lamedh",  "Kaph", "Teth" and "Lament for Theodore Antoniou." Also in 2021, Composers Concordance released an album called "The Process Sessions #1 with Aaron's "Lament, Prayer and Renewal" for tenor saxophone and electric guitar, which was inspired by the COVID pandemic. In 2023, Phasma Music released a recording of Aaron's Vival-departures for String Orchestra (inspired by the music of Antonio Vivaldi) on an album entitled "LVIV 1" by the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine. “LVIV 1” won the “Best Classical Recording” award from the 2023 Clouzine International Music Awards. Vival-departures fuses the influences of Vivaldi's music with Blues and Rock music. The Steinway artist, Susan Merdinger, will give the premiere of a new solo piano work that Aaron wrote for her in a series of many concerts throughout the U.S. in 2024.

In March, 2023, Aaron Alter's Earth Cantata (inspired by the Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach) for Chorus and Chamber Orchestra was premiered by The New Mexico Bach Society Chorale and Orchestra to wide acclaim. Earth Cantata was commissioned by The New Mexico Performing Arts Society and is published by Universal Edition.

Aaron is a regular contributor of compositions to the repertoire of the flutist Iwona Glinka, the pianist and Steinway Artist, Susan Merdinger, the Cracow Duo, the ÉxQuartet, the pianist Vania Pimentel, The New Mexico Performing Arts Society and Composers Concordance in New York. 

Aaron also serves as an Executive Board Member of the Carlsbad Friends of the Arts and is the former Chair of the Carlsbad Arts Commission.

Aaron was featured in an article in the Santa Fe New Mexican Newspaper on March 3, 2023 that discussed the upcoming premiere of his Earth Cantata (inspired by the cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach) by
The New Mexico Performing Arts Society.
Click Here to read the article.

The German YouTube channel "Weltklassik am Klavier" did an extensive interview (in English) with Aaron on June 2, 2020.
Please click on the Play button on the video below to view the interview.

Aaron Alter congratulating the performers

At the world premiere of "Together We Create and Sing!" (inspired by the music of Franz Joseph Haydn) by the New Mexico Performing Arts Society.

Aaron has received three commissions in the past five years for choral works with an instrumental ensemble from The New Mexico Performing Arts Society.  The first commission, “Together We Create and Sing! (inspired by the music of Franz Joseph Haydn”) was a semi-finalist at the 2018 American Prize competition for Choral Music Composition and received a Silver Medal at the August 2019 Global Music Awards.  The second commission, “Lo Lanu Ha-Shem” (a setting of Psalm 115) received a Silver Medal from the March 2019 Global Music Awards, won an Honorable Mention in the 2019-2020 American Prize in the Major Choral Works division and won Third Prize in the 2020-2021 American Prize in the Pops Composition division. The third commission, "Earth Cantata" (inspired by the cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach) was premiered in a series of special concerts in 2023.

The music software company, Avid, did an interview with Aaron and published an article based on the interview on their website, avid.com.
Click Here to view the article.