Paul Reale (March 2, 1943-July 22, 2020) was an American composer, pianist, and Professor of Music at the University of California, Los Angeles.[1]
Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Paul Reale studied English literature and chemistry at Columbia College, before earning a degree there in composition in 1967 under the primary tutelage of Chou Wen-Chung and Otto Luening. He continued his composition studies at the University of Pennsylvania,[2] where he studied with George Rochberg and George Crumb.
From 1969 until his retirement in 2004, he taught music theory and composition at UCLA, where in 1995, he received the Charles and Harriet Luckman Award for Distinguished Teaching;[3] as of 2006, he was a Professor Emeritus at UCLA. The composer's catalogue includes twelve piano sonatas, nine concertos for various instruments, two song cycles, and dozens of other vocal, chamber, and dramatic works.
He had a long-term relationship with the Mirecourt Trio[4] and its members, John Jensen, Terry King, and Kenneth Goldsmith, as well as with violinist Jessica Mathaes,[5] cellist Kim Cook,[6] the Borealis Wind Quintet, pianists Walter Ponce,[7] Christopher Guzman,[8] Colette Valentine, and conductors William Boughton, Jon Robertson,[9] David Whitwell,[10] and Guillermo Figueroa. Included among many commissions are those from the Ahmanson Organ Programming Endowment, the Jerome Foundation, Pacific Serenades,[11] and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.
His music has been published by Carl Fischer Inc.,[12] Theodore Presser Co.,[13] Laurendale Associates,[14] Pacific Serenades.[15], and Seesaw Music.[16] His many recordings are available on the Naxos,[17] MSR,[18] and Music & Arts labels.[19]
Among his well-known students are James Horner, Jake Heggie[20] Mark Carlson, Chris Anderson Bazzoli[21], and Yiorgos Vassilandonakis[22]
Reale was married for 44 years to conductor, cellist, teacher, and photographer Claire Rydell.