Christopher Adler (born 1972) is a musician, composer and music professor at

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...

. A virtuoso player of the

khaen The ''khaen'' (; spelled "Khaen", "Kaen", "Kehn" or "Ken" in English; , ; , , ; , ; – ''Ken''; Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: ''khèn'' or ''kheng'') is a Lao mouth organ whose pipes, which are usually made of bamboo, are connected with a s ...

, a reed instrument native to

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

and

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, he has been composing works for the khaen both as a solo instrument and in combination with western instruments since 1996. His works for solo piano include the three-part ''Bear Woman Dances'', commissioned to accompany a dance depicting a Korean creation myth and largely based the Korean musical system

nongak ''Pungmul'' (; ) is a Korean folk music tradition that includes drumming, dancing, and singing. Most performances are outside, with dozens of players all in constant motion. ''Pungmul'' is rooted in the ''dure'' (collective labor) farming culture. ...

. Four of his compositions have been broadcast internationally on WGBH's ''Art of the States'' series.MacBlane, Amanda (24 March 2003)
"Siberia to Cyberia: “Art of the States” Comes to the Web"
'' New Music Box''. Retrieved 9 June 2016. His composition for sheng, viola and percussion, ''Music for a Royal Palace'', was commissioned by Carnegie Hall for

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is a French-born American Cello, cellist. Born to Chinese people, Chinese parents in Paris, he was regarded as a child prodigy there and began to study the cello with his father at age four. At the age of seven, ...

's '' Silk Road Project''. An homage to Thailand's

Bang Pa-In Palace Bang Pa-In Royal Palace (), also known as the Summer Palace, is a palace complex formerly used by the Thai kings. It lies beside the Chao Phraya River in Bang Pa-in District, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province in Thailand. History King Prasat ...

, the work incorporates traditional Thai melody and embellishments. It was performed at Zankel Hall in 2006 and recorded at the

Tanglewood Music Center The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops. The center operates as a part of the Tanglew ...

that same year. His ''Serpent of Five Tongues'' for sheng and guanzi (traditional Chinese instruments) premiered at the 2011

MATA Festival The MATA Festival is a New York City, New York–based annual contemporary classical music festival devoted to championing the works of young composers. It was founded in 1996 by Philip Glass, Lisa Bielawa and Eleonor Sandresky and is currently u ...

Biography

Adler was born in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the population was 82,376 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mountain V ...

and grew up in

Falls Church, Virginia Falls Church City is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is ...

. He developed a connection with music at a young age, playing the

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

at the church where his mother worked in Falls Church, (which he would continue to do until his move to San Diego).Scher, Valerie. (5 March 2006)
"Composer’s at Home on an Exotic Instrument"
. ''

San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

''. Retrieved 9 June 2016. He attended

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

as an undergraduate hoping to major in Mathematics and Physics, but instead earned bachelor's degrees in Mathematics and Composition. One of his mentors there was Professor

Evan Ziporyn Evan Ziporyn (b. Chicago, Illinois, December 14, 1959) is an American composer of post-minimalist music with a cross-cultural orientation, drawing equally from classical music, avant-garde, various world music traditions, and jazz. Ziporyn h ...

, who would later be the one to encourage him to play a non-Western instrument. He was first introduced to traditional Thai music, as well as the Khaen specifically, while attending MIT in 1994, during a Smithsonian Folk Life Festival in Washington D.C. He went on to receive his PhD in Composition from

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

. Adler has lived in San Diego since 1999 where he is a professor in the Asian Studies and Music departments at the University of San Diego.

Faculty biography: Christopher Adler, PhD.
Retrieved 9 June 2016. He also engages in several organizations and festivals that center around contemporary and experimental

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

. His wife, Supeena Insee Adler, is also a musician who specializes in traditional Thai music.Nichols, Catherine. (March–April 2007)
"Composer's Work Premieres at Carnegie Hall"
. ''

MIT Technology Review ''MIT Technology Review'' is a bimonthly magazine wholly owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was founded in 1899 as ''The Technology Review'', and was re-launched without "''The''" in its name on April 23, 1998, under then pu ...

'' (republished on MIT Alumni News. Retrieved 9 June 2009.

Musical career

Adler's works have been performed at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

, Chicago Symphony Center,

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue and Music festival, festival in the towns of Lenox, Massachusetts, Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony ...

Merkin Hall Merkin Hall is a 449-seat concert hall in Manhattan, New York City. The hall, named in honor of Hermann and Ursula Merkin, is part of the Kaufman Music Center, a complex that includes the Lucy Moses School, a community arts school, and the Spec ...

, Shanghai Symphony Hall, the

Bang on a Can Bang on a Can is a multi-faceted contemporary classical music organization based in New York City. It was founded in 1987 by three American composers who remain its artistic directors: Julia Wolfe, David Lang, and Michael Gordon. Called "the c ...

Marathon, Music at the Anthology, and the Cultural Center of Chicago, the

Seoul Arts Center The Seoul Arts Center (SAC; ) is an arts complex in Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea. It consists of five main buildings: the Opera House, with three auditoriums; the Music Hall, with two concert halls; the Hangaram Art Museum; the Hangaram D ...

Sumida Triphony Hall is a concert hall in Sumida, Tokyo, Japan. It opened in 1997 and has two auditoria; the main hall, with 1,801 seats; and the small hall, with 252 seats. It is the home of the New Japan Philharmonic. Nikken Sekkei were the architects, with acous ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

and at new music festivals and universities across the US. by ensembles including the

Silk Road Ensemble Silkroad, formerly the Silk Road Project, Inc., is a not-for-profit organization, initiated by the cellist Yo-Yo Ma in 1998, promoting collaboration among artists and institutions, promoting multicultural artistic exchange, and studying the ebb and ...

, red fish blue fish, Ensemble ACJW, the

Da Capo Chamber Players The Da Capo Chamber Players are an American contemporary music "Pierrot ensemble," founded in 1970. Winners of the Naumburg Award in 1973, its founding members included composer/pianist Joan Tower, violinist Joel Lester (former dean of Mannes Co ...

. His works have been broadcast and webcast internationally on WGBH's ''Art of the States'', WQXR's ''Cued Up'' and

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

. Recordings of Adler's music include: *''Epilogue for a dark day'' (2004).

Tzadik Records Tzadik is a record label in New York City that specializes in avant-garde and experimental music. The label was established by composer and saxophonist John Zorn in 1995. He is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases. Tzadik is a not-for-p ...

*''Ecstatic volutions in a neon haze'' (2007)

Innova Recordings Innova Recordings is the independent record label of the non-profit American Composers Forum based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1982 to document the winners of the McKnight Fellowship offered by its parent organization, the Minne ...

*''A forest of verses: solo and chamber music'' (2009) Vienna Modern Masters Adler's retrospective analysis of his first ten years of cross-cultural composition was published in

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conducting, conductor, saxophonist, arrangement, arranger and record producer, producer who "deliberately resists category". His Avant-garde music, avant-garde and experimental music, ex ...

's ''Arcana II: Musicians on Music'' (Hips Road, 2007).

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

bibliographic record
Table of Contents for ''Arcana II: Musicians on Music'', edited by John Zorn
Retrieved 9 June 2009

References

External links

* *

American Composers Forum The American Composers Forum is an American organization that promotes and assists American composers and contemporary classical music. It was founded in 1973 as the Minnesota Composers Forum and is based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with activities ...

Christopher Adler
*Adler, Christopher (January 2013)
"World Music Instrument: The Lao Khaen "
Center for World Music {{DEFAULTSORT:Adler, Christopher 1972 births Living people Musicians from Washington, D.C. People from Falls Church, Virginia University of San Diego faculty Music of Thailand Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni Duke University alumni