Howard Hanson
Howard Harold Hanson (October 28, 1896 – February 26, 1981) was an American composer, conductor, teacher, and music expert. As director of the Eastman School of Music for forty years, he improved the school’s quality and helped create chances for writing and performing American classical music. In 1944, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his Symphony Number 4.
Walter Piston
Walter Hamor Piston, Jr. was born on January 20, 1894, and died on November 12, 1976. He was an American composer who wrote music for orchestras and other groups.
Roger Sessions
Roger Huntington Sessions (December 28, 1896 – March 16, 1985) was an American composer, teacher, and writer about music. He began his career using a style that borrowed ideas from earlier music periods, but over time he developed a style with more complex harmonies and a type of music called postromanticism. Eventually, he used a method called twelve-tone serialism, which was taught at the Second Viennese School.
Milton Babbitt
Milton Byron Babbitt was born on May 10, 1916, and died on January 29, 2011. He was an American composer, music theory expert, mathematician, and teacher. He received the Pulitzer Prize and a MacArthur Fellowship for his work in serial and electronic music.
Elliott Carter
Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American composer known for his modernist style. He was one of the most respected composers in the second half of the 20th century.
George Crumb
George Henry Crumb Jr. (October 24, 1929 – February 6, 2022) was an American composer known for creating unusual and innovative classical music. Early in his career, he avoided a common style of music called serialism, instead developing his own unique way of writing music that can range from calm to unsettling.
Peter Sculthorpe
Peter Joshua Sculthorpe AO OBE FAHA (29 April 1929 – 8 August 2014) was a well-known Australian composer and teacher. His music was influenced by the sounds of countries near Australia and by combining elements of Aboriginal Australian music with Western musical traditions. He is best known for his orchestral and chamber music, such as Kakadu (1988) and Earth Cry (1986), which reflect the sounds and atmosphere of Australia’s bushland and outback.
György Ligeti
György Sándor Ligeti (pronounced “LEE-guh-tee”) was a Hungarian composer who created contemporary classical music. He is known as one of the most important avant-garde composers in the second half of the twentieth century and one of the most innovative and influential composers of his time. He was born in Romania and lived in Hungary before moving to Austria in 1956.
György Kurtág
György Kurtág (Hungarian: [ˈɟørɟ ˈkurtaːɡ]; born February 19, 1926) is a Hungarian composer of modern classical music and a pianist. According to Grove Music Online, his style is influenced by composers such as Bartók, Webern, and, to a lesser degree, Stravinsky. His work is known for using small groups and short pieces, and for expressing emotions directly and clearly.
Helmut Lachenmann
Helmut Friedrich Lachenmann (German: [ˈhɛlmuːt ˈlaxn̩man]; born November 27, 1935) is a German composer, pianist, and teacher of modern classical music. He taught at several institutions, including the Darmstädter Ferienkurse, the Musikhochschule Stuttgart, and the Musikhochschule Hannover. As a private student of Luigi Nono in Venice, Lachenmann was influenced to include social and political themes in his work.