Alan Mandel is noted for his brilliant performances, in the United States as well as in fifty other countries, of music by European and American composers, of traditional and esoteric repertoire. He was the first pianist of stature to regularly program both classical and ragtime music at his concerts, a feature that continues to delight, surprise and educate his audiences. Professor of Music and Chairman of the Piano Department at American University in Washington, D.C., Mr. Mandel was co-founder and Artistic Director of the world-famous Washington Music Ensemble. A prodigious recording artist during his long and distinguished career, Mr. Mandel was the first to transcribe, premiere and record Ives' unpublished works. His four-record album The Complete Piano Works of Charles Ives has been called "historic" by The New York Times. Mandel's other four-record album Louis Moreau Gottschalk: "Forty Works for the Piano" has also received innumerable rave reviews in newspapers and magazines throughout the country, and his three-record album Anthology of American Piano Music: 1790-1970 has become a hallmark of American music recordings.