Alex Weiser

Weiser was born in New York City[1] to a Jewish family. He attended Stuyvesant High School[2] and Yale University,[3] and received a master's degree in Music Theory and Composition from New York University. He studied with Paul Alan Levi,[2] Martin Bresnick,[4] Michael Gordon, and Julia Wolfe among others.[5][6]

Weiser's debut album, and all the days were purple, was released by Cantaloupe Music in April 2019,[7] and was named a 2020 Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Music.[8] The album features singer Eliza Bagg singing songs set to poetry in Yiddish and English by poets including Anna Margolin, Rachel Korn, Abraham Sutzkever, Emily Dickinson, and William Carlos Williams.[9] Probing contemporary Jewish identity, the album grew out of Weiser's work as the Director of Public Programs at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.[10][11][12][13][14]

Other of Weiser's works explore Jewish themes as well including an opera, State of the Jews, which is a historical drama about Theodor Herzl,[15][16] and after shir hashirim for chamber orchestra which takes its inspiration from the biblical Song of Songs.[17] Common themes in Weiser's work also include death and transience as exemplified by his work Three Epitaphs.[18] Other major works have included shimmer for eight spatially arrayed cellos written for and recorded by Ashley Bathgate as a companion piece to Steve Reich's Cello Counterpoint,[19][20] and water hollows stone for piano four hands, written for HOCKET.[1]

In addition to his work as a composer and at YIVO, Weiser is co-founder and artistic director of Kettle Corn New Music,[21][22] and worked for about five years as the Director of Operations and Development at the MATA Festival.[23][24]

• Official website
• Artist Page, Cantaloupe Music