b. November 14, 1900, Brooklyn, NY d. December 2, 1990, North Tarrytown, NY Aaron Copland was a famed American composer and an accomplished pianist. He was known as the “Dean of American Composers.” His composition style was a unique hybrid of American folk idioms and modern classical music and is identified by his iconic use [...]

b. 1874   Danbury, Connecticut d. 1954   New York, NY Charles Ives was a super-cool, trail-blazing composer who also had a successful career as an insurance salesman. He’s our composer of the week! Charles Ives grew up in Danbury, Connecticut, where his father, George Ives, worked as a music teacher and band leader. George Ives had [...]

b. May 15, 1908 in Akarp, Sweden d. December 26, 1986 in Helsingborg, Sweden Lars-Erik Larsson‘s Nordic Romanticism awesomeness makes him our composer of the week! Larsson worked as a music critic in addition to working as a conductor, composer, and producer for Swedish radio after studying at the Stockholm Conservatory. Holding these positions presented [...]

Felix Mendelssohn, a musical prodigy who is known as the Mozart of the 19th Century, is our Composer of the Week, and he was also featured at our recent Summer Music Soiree listening party! b. February 3, 1809 in Hamburg, Germany d. November 4, 1847 in Leipzig, Germany Felix Mendelssohn began writing masterpieces at the [...]

Few people have heard of Quincy Porter or his fabulous compositions. His undeniable underdogness makes him our Composer of the Week. b. February 7, 1897 in New Haven, Connecticut d. November 12, 1966 in Bethany, Connecticut Quincy Porter, who’s compositional style bridged Impressionism with chromaticism to create his own idiom, composed a catalog of music [...]

Igor Stravinsky wrote a ton of super awesome music — and he is considered by many to be the most influential composer of the 20th century! He is our Composer of the Week. b. June 17, 1882 d. April 6, 1971 “Consonance, says the dictionary, is the combination of several tones into a harmonic unit. [...]

Previously heard at Salon97′s “Living Composers in the Dead of Winter” and “Terrible Twos” events, Arvo Pärt is a truly one of a kind and amazing composer, and he’s our Composer of the Week! b. September 11, 1935 in Paide, Estonia Arvo Pärt began studying music at an early age and had already worked as [...]

Modest Mussorgsky wrote some wonderfully iconic additions to the classical repertoire, and that is why he is our Composer of the Week! b. March 21, 1839 in Karevo, Russia d. March 28, 1881 in St. Petersburg, Russia Modest Mussorgsky began studying piano with his mother at age six and went on to become one of [...]

It’s high time we get a female composer represented up in here! Amy Beach is super awesome, so she’s the first. b. Henniker, New Hampshire, September 5, 1867 d. New York, New York, December 27, 1944 From an early age it was obvious that Amy Cheney Beach was a musical prodigy, and though her mother [...]

He wrote the groundbreaking scores for King Kong and A Summer Place, which means Max Steiner is more than awesome enough to be a Composer of the Week! b. May 10, 1888 in Vienna d. December 28, 1971 in Beverley Hills When he composed his first song at age 11, it was immediately apparent that [...]