John Aler is an American lyric tenor who is popular on a great number of the world's stages. He has appeared on more than four dozen albums and brought home a trio of Grammy Awards. In 1985, Telarc's release of
Berlioz's Requiem (also known as Grande Messe des Morts) with the
Atlanta Symphony brought the tenor honors as Best Classical Vocal Soloist. Aler earned two more Grammys in 1994: DGG's recording of Semele by
Handel took the Best Opera Recording prize with Aler in the role of Jupiter, while The Wooden Prince And Cantata Profana, another DGG release, was named Best Classical Album; Aler appeared on that album with the Chicago Symphony conducted by
Pierre Boulez.
Aler was born in Baltimore, MD. He attended the Juilliard School after studying at Washington, D.C.'s Catholic University. As a soloist he has sung with a number of orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the
New York Philharmonic, the
Cleveland Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, the
Boston Symphony, the Israel Philharmonic, the
BBC Symphony Orchestra, the
Berlin Philharmonic, and L'Orchestre Nationale de France. He has sung opera with the
New York City Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, the Royal Opera House, the Vienna Staatsoper, and Deutsche Oper Berlin, among others.