This is the world premiere performance of Aaron Alter's Latin-Jazz-inspired piece, Who, if not You?, for mixed chamber ensemble and tap dancer. The performance was part of a concert entitled 
Composers Concordance & Talujon Present "Ensemble Motion"
Talujon Percussion Meets CompCord Ensemble
Featuring Max Pollak & Dancers
Sunday, March 26th, 2023
St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, New York

The performers were:
CompCord Ensemble
Michiyo Suzuki, Clarinet
Daniel Schnyder, Soprano Saxophone
Jonathan Finlayson, Trumpet
Gene Pritsker, Electric Guitar
Jay Elfenbein, Double Bass
Peter Jarvis, Conductor

Talujon Percussion Ensemble
David Cossin, Suspended Cymbal
Michael Lipsey, Conga
Riley Palmer, Cajon
Matt Ward, Vibraphone

Tommy Wasiuta, Tap Dancer

Recording by Moti Margolin

For more information on Who, if not You? and other works by Aaron Alter, please visit https://aaronalter.com/compositions .

Who, if not You? for Mixed Chamber Ensemble and Tap Dancer - World Premiere in New York

Aaron Alter is a composer from Carlsbad, California. His music is published by Universal Edition and Silverwinds Publishing. Aaron calls his new music his "New Beginning" because it 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. 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.  

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 16,100 plays on SoundCloud and over 5,200 plays on Jango Internet Radio. 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.  

Aaron has received two commissions in the past two 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 latest commission, “Lo Lanu Ha-Shem” (a setting of Psalm 115) received a Silver Medal from the March 2019 Global Music Awards.  

Aaron is a regular contributor of compositions to the repertoire of the flutist Iwona Glinka, the pianist and Steinway Artist, Susan Merdinger, 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.

Who, if not You? for Mixed Chamber Ensemble and Tap Dancer - World Premiere in New York

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