Hendel Almetus

In addition to his role as theory and composition professor at University of the Pacific’s Conservatory of Music, Hendel Almétus is the founder of the Pacific Community Music School at University of the Pacific. PCMS is a pre-college community engagement program serving the Stockton community. Almétus served as its coordinator from 2018 to 2024.

Almétus holds a PhD from the University of California at Davis, a Master of Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Houston Christian University. Prior to joining Pacific’s Conservatory of Music, he taught at the University of California, Davis.

Composer Almétus’s music has been described as “Vividly virtuosic and quietly meditative” (San Francisco Classical Voice). He has received commissions from distinguished artists, ensembles and institutions, including Earplay New Chamber Music, The Empyrean Ensemble, Guitarist Dieter Hennings, Arizona State University and Kodachrome Saxophone Quartet. He has written for prominent artists including soprano Tony Arnold, guitarist Magnus Andersson and ensembles such as Alarm Will Sound, Wet Ink Ensemble, Meridian Brass and the One Art Ensemble.

His residence engagements include the BAU Institute at Camargo in Cassis, France; Freie Universität Berlin International Summer program in Berlin, Germany; and the Wellesley Composers Conference in Boston. He is a Margaret Mondavi fellow.

Almétus’s music is performed in Europe and the U.S. The composition “Rencontre” from his “Rêves Transcendants” for soprano and chamber ensemble, performed by Tony Arnold and the Composers Conference chamber ensemble, was featured on WQXR classical radio station. His “Luminous,” written for the Kodachrome Quartet, was featured at the North American Saxophone Alliance conference.