&lt;p&gt;Fairfax, Va. - John Aler, world-renowned American tenor and four-time Grammy award-winner, will join &lt;a href=&quot;http://cvpa.gmu.edu&quot;&gt;George Mason University&amp;rsquo;s College of Visual and Performing Arts &lt;/a&gt;as an associate professor of voice in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://music.gmu.edu&quot;&gt;School of Music &lt;/a&gt;starting in fall 2011. For the past year, Aler has provided private music instruction in voice as an adjunct faculty member in the School of Music. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;We are thrilled to welcome &lt;a href=&quot;http://music.gmu.edu/node/227&quot;&gt;John Aler&lt;/a&gt; to Mason&amp;rsquo;s School of Music as a full time associate professor,&amp;rdquo; says Dennis Layendecker, director of the School of Music and University Heritage Chair in Music. &amp;ldquo;John is one of the most acclaimed and admired singers on the international stage.&amp;nbsp; We are confident that his extensive performance experience and teaching talent will greatly benefit both students and faculty in the School of Music.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In his role as a voice professor, Aler will continue to provide private music instruction, as well as work with students to develop solo and ensemble musical and dramatic skills in the performance of opera and musical theater works. In addition, he will help address the needs of the student artist in the process of learning various styles of singing, role and chorus preparation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;I am honored to be joining Mason&amp;rsquo;s College of Visual and Performing Arts full time and am excited that I can continue working with the amazing and talented faculty and students in the School of Music,&amp;rdquo; says Aler. &amp;ldquo;I believe the School of Music has a very bright future and I look forward to being a part of the rich academic and artistic environment at Mason.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As an accomplished soloist, Aler performs throughout North America with orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In Europe, he has appeared with some of the world&amp;rsquo;s most respected conductors and has performed with the Berlin Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus and the Orchestre National de France. He has also performed at some of the world&amp;rsquo;s major opera houses including the Royal Opera Covent Garden, the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Washington Opera.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Aler is also a regular performer at major American summer festivals including the Ravinia Festival, the Aspen Music Festival and the Grand Park Music Festival. His extensive teaching experience includes the Maryland Opera Society, the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and Atlantic Union College.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With an extensive discography, Aler can be heard on more than 60 recordings, four of which have won Grammy Awards for best classical album, best opera recording and best classical vocal soloist performance. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Aler holds bachelor of music and master of music degrees in vocal performance from the Catholic University of America.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;About the College of Visual and Performing Arts&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) provides an academic environment in which the arts are explored as individual disciplines and interdisciplinary forms that strengthen one another. The college prepares students for careers as creators, performers, teachers, scholars, arts leaders and arts entrepreneurs. Understanding that an education in the arts is deepened by regular contact with the work of distinguished visiting artists, the Center for the Arts, the professional presentation and production arm of the college, welcomes a variety of professional and world-renowned artists, musicians and actors to its stage. Students have the opportunity to perform, create and exhibit their work in a wide variety of public venues including a 2,000-seat Concert Hall. CVPA is home to the Schools of Music, Dance and Art, the Department of Theater, as well as the Computer Game Design, Arts Management and Film and Video Studies programs.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;About George Mason University&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;George Mason University is an innovative, entrepreneurial institution with global distinction in a range of academic fields. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., Mason provides students access to diverse cultural experiences and the most sought-after internships and employers in the country. Mason offers strong undergraduate and graduate degree programs in engineering and information technology, organizational psychology, health care and visual and performing arts. With Mason professors conducting groundbreaking research in areas such as climate change, public policy and the biosciences, George Mason University is a leading example of the modern, public university. George Mason University&amp;mdash;Where Innovation Is Tradition.&lt;/p&gt;