Aaron Alter

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 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.  

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 42,700 plays on Jango Internet Radio and over 26,400 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 my "Lament, Prayer and Renewal" for tenor saxophone and electric guitar. 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. Vival-departures fuses the influences of Vivaldi's music with Blues and Rock music.

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.