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Donald E. Osborne, Director California Artists Management 564 Market Street, Suite 420, San Francisco, CA 94104-5412 415 362-2787 / fax: 415 362-2838 / Skype: calartistsdon / Email |
Susan Endrizzi Morris, Director California Artists Management P.O. Box 2479, Mendocino, CA 95460-2479 707-937-4787 / cell: 415-302-1083 / Skype: sueendrizzi / Email |
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 Download Bio |
John Aler
Tenor
(updated February 2011 – please discard any previous version) |
The renowned American tenor
John Aler is one of the most acclaimed and admired singers on the international
stage. A consummate artist, he has
been a frequent performer with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, the
Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the
symphony orchestras of Boston, Chicago and San Francisco.
He has sung in Europe with the Berlin Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus,
Orchestre Nationale de France, and the BBC Symphony, among many others,
appearing with the world’s most respected conductors, including James Conlon,
Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Kurt Masur, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Simon Rattle,
Michael Tilson Thomas, Herbert Blomstedt, and Leonard Slatkin, to name a few.
He has performed at the major opera houses of the world, including the
Royal Opera Covent Garden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Vienna, Munich, Salzburg,
Hamburg, Geneva, Madrid, and Brussels, as well as the New York City Opera, the
Washington Opera, and Santa Fe. He
is a regular performer at the major American summer festivals, including Ravinia,
Aspen, Chautauqua, Newport, and Grant Park.
Performances highlights of
recent seasons have included Britten’s War
Requiem with the Moscow Philharmonic and the Munich Philharmonic under James
Conlon, Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust
with Carlos Kalmar at the Grant Park Music Festival, Mendelssohn’s
Elijah with the Dallas Symphony under
Claus Peter Flor, Britten’s Saint Nicholas
with the Indianapolis Symphony under their conductor laureate, Raymond Leppard,
Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis at
Strathmore Hall with the National Philharmonic, and his 24th season
at the Cincinnati May Festival, where he performed Bach’s
St. Matthew Passion and Mozart’s “Great”
Mass in c minor under James Conlon. He returns to the May Festival
in 2011 to sing Haydn’s Heiligemesse.
Highlights of 2010 include Britten’s Canticle II,
Abraham and Isaac with Marietta Simpson performed at the Kennedy
Center, the Ravinia Festival where he sang Bernstein’s
Candide under John Axelrod, and Mozart’s
Nozze di Figaro, conducted by James Conlon with the Chicago
Symphony.
Mr. Aler has an extensive
concert repertoire, which ranges from the Evangelist in the Passions of Bach to
the War Requiem and
Serenade for Tenor Horn and Strings of Benjamin Britten and
Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, which he
performed with the San Francisco Symphony, at the Ravinia Festival under Andrew
Litton, and with the New York Philharmonic, who recorded it for a limited
release under its New York Philharmonic Special Edition label.
John Aler is featured on three Grammy Award-winning recordings: in the role of
Jupiter in an all-star recording of Handel’s
Semele with John Nelson and the English chamber Orchestra for DGG,
which won “Best Opera Recording”; Bartok’s
Cantata Profana with Pierre Boulez and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, also
on DGG, which won “Best Classical Album”; and the Berlioz
Requiem with the Atlanta Symphony on Telarc, which won for “Best
Vocal Soloist.” He has an extensive
discography and can be heard on more than 60 recordings on DGG, Decca,
EMI/Angel, Telarc, Teldec, and more than a dozen other labels. A recitalist of
note, he has several recordings of chansons, Lieder and song including a solo
album entitled “Songs We Forgot to Remember” on Delos. In December 2006, he
recorded Bach’s Coffee Cantata with
the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in a downloadable format for
Deutsche Grammophon.
A native of Baltimore, John Aler is an alumnus of the Catholic University in
Washington, DC and the Juilliard School.
Recent Critical Acclaim:
Evangelist, Bach St. Matthew Passion, Portland Symphony:
"All were uniformly excellent, but
Aler, as the Evangelist who tells the story, is to be admired most for his
stamina, singing a recitative part for 2½ hours." Portland
Press Herald – February 1
Candide and The Marriage of Figaro at the Ravinia Festival with the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra:
“John Aler as Basilio, Corona and Rosel as Don
Curzio, all were fully in the picture.”
Chicago Tribune – August 8, 2010
At the Cincinnati May Festival in Bach’s “St.
Matthew Passion” under James Conlon:
“John Aler sounded fresh and richly
communicative, and never wavered through the role’s immense challenges.”
Cincinnati.com - May 16, 2010
With Marietta Simpson at the Kennedy Center:
“Tenor John Aler joined Ms. Simpson for
Britten’s Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac. The two voices blended wonderfully.
Special note most be made about the voice of John Aler, which remains to be one
of the most loveliest today.”
Washington Examiner - April 23, 2010
Cincinnati May Festival - Berlioz's "Romeo et
Juliette":
“Tenor John Aler captured the humor of
Mercutio's tale about Queen Mab.”
Cincinnati Enquirer - May 25, 2008
Bach’s Cantata No. 191, “Gloria in Excelsis Deo”:
“Soloists John Aler and Stewart provided one of
the evening’s highlights in their “Gloria Patri et Filio,” sung to Jasmine
Choi’s stunning golden flute, and Porco conveyed the work’s freshness of spirit
and warmth.” Cincinnati
Enquirer – May 24, 2008
Britten War Requiem, Munich
Philharmonic, James Conlon, conductor:
“One must see, not just hear, how the two male soloists interact with the fine,
small chamber orchestra, how these two “soldiers,” baritone Christian Gerhaher
and tenor, John Aler, who bears a striking resemblance to Peter Pears, shape the
complexities of this music.”
Klassikinfo.de – April 4, 2008
“Tenor John Aler declaimed the score with great intensity and sympathy for the
text.”
Süddeutscher Zeitung – April 7, 2008
“Tenor John Aler sang bravely.”
Tageszeitung, Munich – April 5- 6, 2008
“Her dark soprano missed much of the nuance that as a rule her colleague John
Aler in particular was able exhibit much better.”
Munich Merkur – April 5-6, 2008
“John Aler's Don Giovanni is full of spruce next
to Jean-Luc Chaignaud's deep and commanding Commendatore.”
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle - January 11, 2008
Beethoven Missa Solemnis, Naitonal
Philharmonic:
“Among a fine team of vocal soloists,
veteran tenor John Aler.”
Washington Post – November 17, 2007
“The
estimable John Aler.”
Opera News - August 2007
Haydn, The Seasons, Cincinnati May
Festival:
“One of the
standouts was the love duet with Aler. The tenor, a longtime festival favorite,
delivered his usual stylish performance all evening, navigating the runs and
leaps of his 'Wanderer' aria with agility.”
Cincinnati Enquirer - May 19, 2007
"The soloists'
voices projected beautifully. John Aler had all the requisite coloratura and
sang with beauty of tone and expressivity. Aler shone in his picture of a
wanderer lost in the snow."
Cincinnati Post - May 19, 2007
Bach's Cantata No. 182, Cincinnati May Festival:
"Each soloist had
an aria, Aler's elaborate and fast-moving. All were done in light, balanced
baroque style."
Cincinnati Post - May 21, 2007
"Losier and tenor
John Aler performed their arias with earnest expression. The tenor’s florid
passagework was matched superbly by cellist Norman Johns."
Cincinnati Enquirer - May 21, 2007
Recital in Cincinnati, OH:
"The Cantata "Meine
Seele ruhmt und preist" (My Soul Praises and Glorifies) is set for tenor voice,
cello, violin, flute, oboe, bas and positive organ. Aler sang with an usually
expressive voice and an authentic pronunciation of the German text. After
intermission, composer Ralph Vaughan Williams' first major work, "On Wenlock
Edge" was performed. Throughout the song cycle Aler's voice was expressive,
artistic and sensitive to the text. Chertock's accompaniment was poised and
elegant."
Cincinnati Enquirer – January 22, 2007
Bach Coffee Cantata, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center:
“Aler and Nomura were first-rate colleagues in the ‘Coffee’ Cantata.”
New York Times – December 12, 2006
Haydn's
Creation and Mozart's
Solemn Vespers, Cincinnati May
Festival under James Conlon:
“Tenor John Aler,
singing in his 20th festival over a 27-year span, was superb as Uriel, He was a
convincing storyteller, who communicated with superior enunciation and was
always expressive. His aria, 'In Native Worth' was beautifully sung.”
Cincinnati Enquirer - May 28, 2006
“Aler's silver-lined tenor shone. “
Cincinnati Post - May 22, 2006
Don Ottavio in Mozart’s
Don Giovanni, National Philharmonic, Strathmore Hall:
“Tenor John Aler
as Don Ottavio has a voice of lovely quality especially when he sang sotto voce
at the most tender moments describing his love.”
AllArtsReview4U.com - May 1, 2006
Evangelist in Bach’s
St. Matthew Passion, with Kitchener-Waterloo Philharmonic Choirs:
“His ringing tone and intense delivery
were well-suited to his storytelling role.”
Waterloo Record - April 15, 2006
Britten's
War Requiem, Moscow Philharmonic,
James Conlon, conductor:
“Of all the lights
in everyone's moist eyes, the tenor was the dearest flame of all the candles.
The American John Aler sings with a luminous, colorful voice.”
Vremya News - March 22, 2006
“Highest praise for the interpretation
of this composition goes to the tenor.”
Kultura - March 31, 2006
Handel's Messiah, Trinity Cathedral,
Columbus, OH:
“Aler gave his
solos an operatic sense of gravitas.”
Columbus Dispatch - December 12, 2005
Recital Portsmouth Community Concerts:
“Portsmouth Community Concerts brought tenor John Aler for a
recital that was everything one could have wanted. His voice has a gentle
quality and sweetness that were quite appealing.
He can sing with force but more often draws the listener into the
subtleties of his sound and thought. His expression was based on clear
presentation of the texts in phrases that were carefully shaped with dynamic
highs and lows, all sounding quite natural. The performance was uplifting.”
Virginia Pilot - April 6, 2004
Beethoven’s Missa solemnis,
Berkshire Choral Festival:
“John Aler, whose
tenor is a welcome figure on any concert stage, appeared to revel in the
consistently high tessitura.”
Berkshire Eagle – July 15, 2003