Philip Lasser

Philip Lasser is a visionary composer native to French and American traditions. His music, direct and undisguised, creates a unique sound world that blends together the colorful harmonies of French Impressionist sonorities and the dynamic rhythms and characteristics of American music.

In 1979, he entered Nadia Boulanger’s famed Ecole d’Arts Americaines in Fontainebleau, France, where he began to establish his connection to the French lineage. Following his studies at Harvard College, Lasser lived in Paris, where he worked with Boulanger’s closest colleague and disciple, Narcis Bonet, and legendary pianist Gaby Casadesus. He received his master’s degree from Columbia University while studying with René Leibowitz’s disciple, Jacques-Louis Monod, and his doctorate at The Juilliard School, where he worked with David Diamond. Since 1994, Lasser has been a distinguished member of the faculty of The Juilliard School. He is also the director of the European American Music Alliance (EAMA), a school dedicated to training young composers, chamber musicians, and conductors in the tradition of Nadia Boulanger.

Lasser’s works can be heard on the Sony Classical, Telarc, New World, Crystal, and BMG RCA/Red Seal labels. His works have been performed worldwide by artists such as Simone Dinnerstein, Zuill Bailey, Susanna Phillips, Elizabeth Futral, Margo Garrett, and Cho-Liang Lin, as well as the Atlanta, Seattle, and Colorado symphonies, and the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others.