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Russell Steinberg’s music sounds “floating, luminous” (Boston Globe), “freshly lyrical, pulsating, edgy, infectious” (New York Concert Review), and “deeper while maintaining a descriptive surface” (Fanfare Magazine). Albany records recently released his piano trio Paleface, recorded by Trio Accento, inspired by the paintings of acclaimed New York “psychological pop” artist Jerry Kearns. Steinberg’s orchestral tone poem Cosmic Dust was featured in Science News Magazine for the 25th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope and premiered by its three commissioning orchestras: the New West Symphony in Los Angeles, the Bay Atlantic Symphony in New Jersey, and the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra in Baltimore. His Daniel Pearl Foundation commission, Stories From My Favorite Planet, has received numerous performances on the West Coast performed by LA Philharmonic violinist Mitchell Newman, including one narrated by Theodore Bikel (Fiddler on the Roof). The Bay Atlantic Symphony in New Jersey regularly programs Steinberg’s Hanukkah fantasy Lights On! for its holiday programs.
His music has received awards and grants from ASCAP ( Young Composers Grant and ASCAPLUS), Composers Inc., NACUSA, MacDowell Colony, Aspen Composer Fellowships, First Prize in the New World String Quartet competition, the HEAR NOW Festival, a Gold Medal Jury’s Choice at the Park City Film Music Festival, the California Association of Professional Music Teachers (CAPMT), Illumine, and the Jewish Center for Culture and Creativity. Performances have been in the United States—Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Francisco, San Diego, San Bernadino, Park City, Boulder, Aspen, Colorado Springs, Appleton, Madison, Eau Claire, Philadelphia, Boston, Cummington, Boscawen, New York, Baltimore, Stamford, San Francisco, Stockton, New Cumberland, Atlantic City—and abroad in Austria, Czech Republic, Mexico, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel.
Steinberg is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra, as well as a popular preconcert lecturer for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Santa Monica Symphony. An enthusiastic fan base from around the world participates in his Zoom music lecture series on various musical topics and composers, as well as his Classical Listening Hangouts.
Steinberg holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University with Pulitzer prize-winning composer Leon Kirchner, an M.M. from the New England Conservatory with Arthur Berger, and a B.A. summa cum laude from UCLA with Elaine Barkin, Roy Travis, and Paul Reale. His early instrumental and composition teachers were Dorothy Compinsky (piano, classical guitar, violin), Kenneth Klauss (composition), Earle C. Voorhies (piano), Salome Arkatov (piano), and Ron Purcell (classical guitar).
Information about Steinberg’s music and music lectures is available at www.russellsteinberg.com
QUOTES
“So much fun, such fantastic counterpoint, harmonies, non-harmonic tones, orchestration.”
“Steinberg’s music goes deeper while maintaining a descriptive surface.””
“More modernistic in style is the flute sonata by Russell Steinberg. This atmospheric work fuses tonality with a more contemporary style. The movements get more energetic as they progress., and the final vivacity is exhilarating from start to finish. ”
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Articles and Reviews
Pasadena Now 11-22-24
Los Angeles Youth Orchestra Members Join Alumni, From Scientists to Professional Musicians, For Milestone 25th Anniversary Concert
The Art Music Lounge 1/21/20
Rucksack Review Richard S. Ginell 5-29-19
John Sobol Concert Review Paleface 1-5-18
Johns Hopkins University Gazette, April 2015
The Argonaut Newspaper, April 2014
“No matter what Steinberg throws into this trio, no matter how incongruous the sounds produced, everything seems to fit like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, and always there is that strong sense of humor.”
“Cosmic Dust is a shimmering, powerful work filled with great beauty and energy. It is beautifully organized and structured, with idiomatic writing for all sections. The orchestras I worked with and their audiences loved it, both with the visuals and without. The piece comes together quickly but at the same time is full of great ideas for the orchestra.”