Composers

Living composers

Explore the composers of our time

Discover the voices shaping classical music today. Explore living composers at every stage of their careers, learn about their work, and find new music to listen to, study, and perform.

44 composers

Living composers

All career stages →

Established Composers

Major living composers with sustained international recognition.

44 composers
ComposerNotable compositionCareer highlight
Amy Beth Kirsten Savior Composition Faculty · The Juilliard School Anthony Davis The Central Park Five 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Music Ashkan Behzadi Journal of an Ordinary Grief Composition Faculty · Manhattan School of Music Caroline Shaw Partita for 8 Voices 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Music David Adamcyk Trompe-l’œil Composition Faculty · Manhattan School of Music David Lang The Little Match Girl Passion 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Music David McDonald Between Paths Composition Course Faculty · Manhattan School of Music David Serkin Ludwig The New Colossus Chair, Composition Department · The Juilliard School Du Yun Angel’s Bone 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music Efstratios Minakakis Crossings Composition Faculty · New England Conservatory Ellen Reid p r i s m 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Music Gabriela Lena Frank Picaflor: A Future Myth 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Music Hayes Biggs Symphonia brevis Composition Course Faculty · Manhattan School of Music J. Mark Stambaugh The Pied Piper of Hamelin Composition Faculty · Manhattan School of Music Jennifer Higdon Violin Concerto 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music John Adams On the Transmigration of Souls 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Music John Corigliano Symphony No. 2 for String Orchestra 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Music John Luther Adams Become Ocean 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Music John Mallia In the White Silence Composition Faculty · New England Conservatory Julia Wolfe Anthracite Fields 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Music Kati Agócs The Debrecen Passion Composition Faculty · New England Conservatory Kevin Puts Silent Night: Opera in Two Acts 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Music Leah Asher Nyx Composition Course Faculty · Manhattan School of Music Melinda Wagner Concerto for Flute, Strings and Percussion Composition Faculty · The Juilliard School Michael Abels Omar 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Music Michael Gandolfi The Garden of Cosmic Speculation Composition Department Chair · New England Conservatory Nina C. Young Out of whose womb came the ice Composition Faculty · The Juilliard School Paolo Marchettini Tre movimenti dalla Beltà Composition Course Faculty · Manhattan School of Music Paul Burdick Genetic Music Composition Faculty · New England Conservatory Paul Moravec Tempest Fantasy 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Music Peter Andreacchi Fiori Musicali Composition, Theory, and Aural Skills Faculty · Manhattan School of Music Raven Chacon Voiceless Mass 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Music Reiko Füting names, erased Department Chair; Composition Faculty · Manhattan School of Music Rhiannon Giddens Omar 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Music Sid Richardson Borne by a Wind Composition Faculty · New England Conservatory Steve Reich Double Sextet 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Music Susan Botti Cosmosis Composition Faculty · Manhattan School of Music Susie Ibarra Sky Islands 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Music Tania León Stride 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Music Tyshawn Sorey Adagio (For Wadada Leo Smith) 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Music Valerie Coleman Umoja Composition Faculty · The Juilliard School Yehudi Wyner Piano Concerto: 'Chiavi in Mano' 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Music Yu-Chun Chien New Music for, about, and with String Quartet Composition Course Faculty · Manhattan School of Music Zhou Long Madame White Snake 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Music

Recognized Emerging Composers

Composers receiving significant commissions, performances, and professional recognition.

0 composers

Composer submissions for this section will be added through the editorial catalog.

Early-Career Composers

Composers building their first substantial body of professional work.

0 composers

Composer submissions for this section will be added through the editorial catalog.

Student Composers

Composers currently studying and developing their artistic practice.

0 composers

Composer submissions for this section will be added through the editorial catalog.

This directory includes living recipients of the Pulitzer Prize for Music from 2000 onward whose winning work is in classical or contemporary concert music, plus current composition faculty from selected conservatories. Pulitzer record → · Juilliard faculty → · MSM faculty → · NEC faculty →