Philip Lasser

Philip Lasser (born 4 August 1963) is an American composer, pianist, and music theorist. He is a member of the faculty at the Juilliard School in New York City.

Lasser was born in New York City and began taking piano lessons at the age of five.[2] At age sixteen, he entered the Ecole d'Arts Americaines in the Palace of Fontainebleau, France. He studied at Harvard University and, following receipt of a Bachelor's degree, he lived in Paris (1985 - 1988).

In 1988 Lasser entered Columbia University for a Master's degree in Composition, then entered Juilliard, receiving a degree in Doctor of Musical Arts. He wrote an academic work on the contrapuntal analysis of music entitled The Spiraling Tapestry, published by Rassel Editions.[3] His piece Twelve Variations on a Chorale by J. S. Bach has been recorded by pianist Simone Dinnerstein on the Telarc record label.

Lasser is president of the European American Musical Alliance.[4] As director of EAMA's Summer Music Programs in Paris[4] since its 1996 inception, he promotes the pedagogical training of young musicians.

Lasser became a faculty member of Juilliard in 1994. In 2006 he received the Walter Hinrichsen Award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. He previously received the National Orchestral Association's New Music Orchestral Project, and the Louis B. Mayer Award for operatic endeavors.[5] He has been composer-in-residence at the Camargo Foundation[6] in Cassis, France, and at the Yaddo Colony.