Samuel Adler is unique among those established mainstream American composers whose Jewish identities have informed a part of their art. He has written prolifically for the Hebrew liturgy and has been consistently active in the American cantorial and Jewish music infrastructure. Adler was born in Mannheim, Germany, where his father, Hugo Chaim Adler, was a respected cantor. After the family's immigration, he became his father's choir director at the age of thirteen. Adler studied composition with Aaron Copland, Paul Hindemith, Walter Piston, and Randall Thompson, and conducting with Serge Koussevitsky, and he holds degrees from Boston University and Harvard. He was music director of Temple Emanu-EI in Dallas from 1953 until 1966, when he became professor of composition (and later department chairman) at the Eastman School of Music. His compositions includes more than 400 works in nearly all media, apart from his large liturgical output. Adler has served on the faculty of The Juilliard School since 1997, while remaining professor emeritus at Eastman.
