George Perle, the venerable American composer, will turn 90 in 2005. The recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, a MacArthur Foundation fellowship, and an array of other honors, Perle's music has earned not only critical encomiums, but the praise of leading musicians who have championed his art. Composer/conductor Oliver Knussen writes of George Perle's "genuinely and deeply moving music", and critic Andrew Porter waxes lyrical about Perle's "vividness of melodic gesture, lively rhythmic sense, and clarity and shapeliness of discourse." Porter goes on to laud "the charm and grace of his utterance." Now a senior figure in American classical music, Perle's latest compositions are eagerly anticipated. Among his most recent works are: Brief Encounters (fourteen movements for string quartet), Nine Bagatelles for piano, Critical Moments and Critical Moments 2 for six players, and Triptych for Solo Violin and Piano.

George Perle received his early musical education in Chicago. After graduation from DePaul University, where he studied composition with Wesley LaViolette, he continued compositional studies with Ernst Krenek. Perle's music has been widely performed in the USA and abroad. Major commissions have resulted in significant works, among them Serenade III (1983) for solo piano and chamber orchestra, choreographed by American Ballet Theater and nominated for a Grammy award; Woodwind Quintet No. 4, the winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1986; Piano Concerto No. 1 (1990), commissioned for Richard Goode and the San Francisco Symphony; Piano Concerto No. 2 (1992), commissioned for Michael Boriskin; Transcendental Modulations for orchestra, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for its 150th anniversary; and Thirteen Dickinson Songs (1978), commissioned by Bethany Beardslee.

Though Perle is above all a composer, the breadth of his musical interests has led to significant contributions in theory and musicology as well. He has published seven books, including the award winning Operas of Alban Berg, and is a frequent contributor to leading music journals. George Perle is Professor Emeritus at the City University of New York. As music critic Andrew Porter has written, "Perle's renown as an analyst and scholar may have diverted some of the attention that should be given to his merits as a composer. . . What matters to listeners is his achievement." For the fortunate listener, Perle's greatest achievement is the substantial catalog of fresh and adventurous music that he has given to us.