My passion to write music arises out of a most basic human desire to touch other human beings. I compose because it gives me such pleasure to enable others to laugh, to dance, to feel tender, to be entertained. If music doesn’t communicate to an audience, why write it?
Paul Salerni
Professor
NEH Distinguished Chair in the Humanities
Education:
B.A. Amherst College (summa cum laude), 1973
M.A. in Music Composition Harvard University, 1975
Ph.D. in Music Composition Harvard University, 1979
Explore this Profile×
Focus Areas
Additional Interests
- The Music of Earl Kim
- Operatic History
Personal Statement
Biography
Paul Salerni’s music “pulses with life, witty musical ideas and instrumental color” (The Philadelphia Inquirer) and has been described by the New York Times as “impressive” and “playful”. Salerni’s one-act opera Tony Caruso’s Final Broadcast,libretto by Dana Gioia, won the NOA Chamber Opera Competition and is recorded on Naxos. His second one-act, The Life and Love of Joe Coogan, is adapted from a Dick Van Dyke TV Show episode. In March 2019, Salerni and Gioia premiered the dance opera Haunted. Orchestral commissions include NEPA Philharmonic, New Haven Symphony, San Diego Chamber Orchestra, Lehigh Valley Orchestra. His ballet FABLES has been performed all over Europe and the United States. Salerni’s music appears on the Albany, Bridge, and New Focus labels and is published by Presser, Alfred, Fischer, and North Star. Salerni is a prolific art song composer having written 80 art songs to date. Salerni has performed and lectured about the music of his teacher Earl Kim in Korea, the Aspen Festival, the Kennedy Center, etc. He and his spouse Laura Johnson have been an integral part in the making of “Earl.”, an award-winning documentary about Kim. He often writes music for his two songs violinist Domenic (Attacca Quartet) and percussionist Miles (Philadelphia Ballet Orchestra). Salerni was born in New Britain, CT.
Research & Creative Work
Palma, an Italian fable adapted by Dana Gioia for narrator, singers, young string players, children’s choir, and symphony orchestra. Commissioned by WVIA to celebrate its 50th anniversary, premiered by the Northeast Pennsylvania Philharmonic
Haunted, one-act dance opera adapted by Dana Gioia from his poem of the same name
Disruption and Hope, clarinet and string quartet, commissioned and premiered by Concerts on the Slope
Three Places in Pennsylvania, flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello, and pianoforte. Commissioned and premiered by SATORI
Earl. Documentary on the life and music of Earl Kim. Researcher, interviewee, performer.
Image
Image
"Tony"
“Tony” from Tony Caruso’s Final Broadcast, one-act opera on a libretto by Dana Gioia. Winner NOA Chamber Opera Competition. Premiered in Los Angeles in 2008.
"Tony"
Image
Image
Trio from “Haunted"
Trio from “Haunted,” dance opera for baritone, three dancers, string quartet, and percussion on a libretto by Dana Gioia. Premiered in 2019.
Trio from “Haunted"
Image
Image
“A Time to Mourn, A Time to Dance”
Conducting the Lehigh University Philharmonic in “A Time to Mourn, A Time to Dance.”
“A Time to Mourn, A Time to Dance”
Image
Image
Concert of Music
Concert of music by Earl Kim at the Seoul Arts Center, Korea coached and introduced by Paul Salerni.
Concert of Music
Image
Image
“The Life and Love of Joe Coogan"
Joe Coogan, Sally Rogers, Rob Petrie from “The Life and Love of Joe Coogan,” one-act opera adapted from a Dick Van Dyke episode by Carl Reiner, libretto by Kate Light.
“The Life and Love of Joe Coogan"