RECENT NEWS
February 2008
To highlight the organizations's upcoming 50th Anniversary season, the Houston Friends of Music (HFM) have commissioned Pierre Jalbert to compose a full-length work for the Emerson String Quartet. The new piece will premiere at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music during the anniversary season. Dr. Ann Fairbanks, President, Houston Friends of Music, said, "The Emerson String Quartet has been a long-standing favorite of the Houston Friends of Music. We are delighted to combine the talents of this internationally renowned string quartet with composer Pierre Jalbert of Rice University. This commission creates a collaboration of talents and supporters which are very important to our organization." "I'm thrilled to be working with the Emerson Quartet and the Houston Friends of Music in honor of HFM's 50th Anniversary season", stated Pierre Jalbert. "I look forward to creating a work which will resonate here and beyond." Houston Friends of Music, founded in 1960, is the city's pre-eminent chamber music series, presenting nine ensembles of international stature per season. In order to promote interest in chamber music among young listeners, the organization provides free tickets for local high school and college students.

February 2008
The Vermont Symphony has commissioned Pierre Jalbert, who grew up in the state, to compose a new work for the orchestra's fall 2008 tour; Jaime Laredo, the ensemble's Music Director, will conduct. The new, as-yet-untitled piece will make its debut at Middlebury College on September 24, 2008, followed by performances at seven venues throughout Vermont and one in New Hampshire. Jalbert will accompany the orchestra on its tour to talk to audiences and greet well-wishers.

January 2008
The Caramoor Music Festival recently announced that it has commissioned Pierre Jalbert to write a work for the Escher String Quartet, the festival's 2007-08 ensemble-in-residence. The new work will make its debut at the festival on July 10, 2008. Following the work's premiere, the Escher String Quartet will take the score on tour to various venues, including the Louvre in Paris, in 2009.

December 2007
In the wake of Pierre Jalbert's Stoeger Prize, the composer's popularity among leading ensembles has increased exponentially. The celebrated duo of cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han, co-Artistic Directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, has commissioned Pierre Jalbert to compose a new cello sonata, which will receive its world premiere at the Aspen Music Festival on June 25, 2008, in a special concert at Harris Hall. The 21-minute piece, simply titled Cello Sonata, will also be recorded by the duo for an upcoming compact disc. Described by the Wall Street Journal as "America's power couple of chamber music," David Finckel and Wu Han are one of the leading cello-piano duos of our day. The Chicago Sun-Times stated, "When a pair of genuine artists explodes on the stage, exuding not only glamour and theatrical flair but also superb musical insight, the audience's thrill is twofold."

April 2007
Pierre Jalbert has been chosen by the South Bay Chamber Music Society (Los Angeles area) to receive the organization's first Opus Tomorrow commission. He will compose a string trio for the Janaki Trio, which in its first two years of existence has already won the Coleman and Concert Artists Guild International Competitions. The Trio, made up of violist Katie Kadarauch, violinist Serena McKinney, and cellist Arnold Choi, made its Carnegie Hall debut in early 2007, gaining praise from The New York Times for its "magnificently polished" playing. The new work will premiere in Fall 2008.

March 2007
At a special award ceremony at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center on Monday, March 20, composer Pierre Jalbert was awarded the Elise L. Stoeger Prize for Composition. The Stoeger Prize is a $25,000 cash award given every two years in recognition of significant contributions to the chamber music repertory. Mr. Jalbert accepted the award from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Co-Artistic Director Wu Han at the ceremony, which was hosted by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Resident Lecturer and Director of Family Programs Bruce Adolphe. The event, which included an interview with Mr. Jalbert and a live performance of a representative work by the Escher Quartet, was recorded for national radio distribution by the WFMT Radio Network. The Stoeger Prize for composers of chamber music was established by a generous gift from Milan Stoeger as a memorial to his wife, Elise, and in gratitude for the music that had been one of the principal joys of their lives. The Prize is awarded in recognition of achievement in the field of chamber music composition rather than for a specific work. Read more: New Music Box; Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center