Kevin Matthew Puts (born January 3, 1972) is an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, best known for his opera '' The Hours'' and for winning a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

in 2012 for his first

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

Silent Night "Silent Night" () is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO The United Nations Educati ...

'' and a Grammy Award in 2023 for his concerto ''Contact''.

Early life and education

Puts was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, and grew up in Alma, Michigan. He studied composition and piano at the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, earning the

Doctor of Musical Arts The doctor of musical arts (DMA) is a doctorate, doctoral academic degree in music. The DMA combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually Performance, music performance, music composition, or conducting) with graduate-le ...

degree from

. Among his teachers were Samuel Adler, Jacob Druckman, David Lang, Christopher Rouse,

Joseph Schwantner Joseph Clyde Schwantner (born March 22, 1943) is an American composer, educator and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 2002. He was awarded the 1970 Charles Ives Prize. Schwantner is prolific, with many works to his cred ...

, Martin Bresnick, and, in piano, Nelita True. He also studied at the

Tanglewood Music Festival The Tanglewood Music Festival is a music festival held every summer on the Tanglewood estate in Stockbridge and Lenox in the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts. The festival consists of a series of concerts, including symphonic music, c ...

with

William Bolcom William Elden Bolcom (born May 26, 1938) is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, a Grammy Award, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. He ...

and Bernard Rands.

Career

He is composer-in-residence at the Fort Worth Symphony and has received a commission from the Aspen Music Festival. His Cello Concerto was premiered by

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is a French-born American Cello, cellist. Born to Chinese people, Chinese parents in Paris, he was regarded as a child prodigy there and began to study the cello with his father at age four. At the age of seven, ...

. Puts' works have been performed by the St. Louis Symphony, the Pacific Symphony, the

Utah Symphony The Utah Symphony is an American orchestra based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The orchestra's principal venue is Abravanel Hall. In addition to its Salt Lake City subscription concerts, the orchestra travels around the Intermountain West serving ...

(with Evelyn Glennie as percussion soloist), the Miró Quartet, and Concertante. He is a frequent composer in residence at the

Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music is an annual Festival dedicated to contemporary symphonic music by living composers. The music director since 2017 has been Cristian Măcelaru. According to Jesse Rosen, CEO of the League of American Orc ...

, which commissioned his fourth symphony and his flute concerto. His alma mater reports: :For several years, Kevin Puts received reviews describing him as a "promising composer" and "a young composer to watch". But with a flurry of recent performances and prestigious commissions, Puts can now be described as one of America's most important composers, period. Puts was Associate Professor of Composition at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

from 1997 to 2005 and now teaches composition at the

Peabody Institute The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University is a Private university, private music and dance music school, conservatory and College-preparatory school, preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1857, it became affiliat ...

of Johns Hopkins Universityand is a Distinguished Visiting Faculty member at

The Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

. His notable students include Jake Runestad and Viet Cuong. The opera ''

'', with score by Puts and

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

by Mark Campbell, was published by Aperto Press in 2011 and premiered by the

Minnesota Opera Minnesota Opera is a performance organization based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was founded as the Center Opera Company in 1963 by the Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill ...

on November 12. Puts won the annual

Pulitzer Prize for Music The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted i ...

in 2012; the citation called the piece "a stirring opera that recounts the true story of a spontaneous ceasefire he 1914 Christmas truce">Christmas_truce.html" ;"title="he 1914 Christmas truce">he 1914 Christmas truceamong Scottish, French and Germans during World War I, displaying versatility of style and cutting straight to the heart." Puts's opera '' The Hours'', with libretto by Greg Pierce, was first performed in concert form in Philadelphia at the Kimmel Center in March 2022, and then fully staged in November 2022 at the New York Metropolitan Opera">Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts">Kimmel Center in March 2022, and then fully staged in November 2022 at the New York Metropolitan Opera. His triple concerto ''Contact'' won the 2023 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.

Awards

* 1992 American Academy of Arts and Letters composition prize * 2001 Guggenheim Fellow * 1996-1998 Young Concert Artists Composer-in-Residence
* 2002

Rome Prize The Rome Prize is awarded by the American Academy in Rome, in Rome, Italy. Approximately thirty scholars and artists are selected each year to receive a study fellowship at the academy. Recipients must be American citizens. Prizes have been aw ...

of the

American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo in Rome, Italy. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History 19th century In 1893, a group of American architect ...

. * 2008 Opera Fund Awards, The Minnesota Opera: ''

'' * 2012

for ''Silent Night'' (libretto by Mark Campbell)"The 2012 Pulitzer Prize Winners: Music"
The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2013-11-20. With short biography and material on the opera including audio-video excerpt. * 2023 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for ''Contact'' * 2024 Composer of the Year from ''

Musical America ''Musical America'' is the oldest American magazine on classical music, first appearing in 1898 in print and in 1999 online magazine, online, at musicalamerica.com. It is published by Performing Arts Resources, LLC, of East Windsor, New Jersey. ...

Selected works

Orchestra

*''Network'' (1997), commissioned and premiered by the California Symphony Orchestra, Barry Jekowsky, conductor *Symphony No. 1 (1999), commissioned and premiered by the California Symphony Orchestra, Barry Jekowsky, conductor *''Falling Dream'' (2001), commissioned and premiered by the American Composers Orchestra/BMI Foundation, Dennis Russell Davies, conductor *''John Brown's Body'' for Narrator and Orchestra (2001), commissioned and premiered by the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Jack Everly, conductor *''Inspiring Beethoven'' (2001), commissioned and premiered by the Phoenix Symphony, Michael Hermann, conductor *''Millennium Canons'' (2001), commissioned and premiered by the Boston Pops Orchestra and Hanson Institute for American Music, Keith Lockhart, conductor *Symphony No. 2, ''Island of Innocence'' (2002), commissioned by the Barlow Foundation, premiered by the Cincinnati Symphony/Paavo Jaarvi conductor and Utah Symphony/Keith Lockhart conductor *''...this noble company'' (2003), commissioned and premiered by the Atlanta Symphony, Jere Flint, conductor *''River's Rush'' (2004), commissioned and premiered by the Saint Louis Symphony in celebration of the orchestra's 125th anniversary, Leonard Slatkin, conductor *Symphony No. 3, ''Vespertine'' (2004), commissioned by Kathryn Gould and Meet the Composer through Magnum Opus, premiered by the Marin Symphony, Alasdair Neale, conductor *Symphony No. 4, ''from Mission San Juan'' (2007), commissioned by the Cabrillo Festival for Contemporary Music, premiered by the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, Marin Alsop, conductor *''Two Mountain Scenes'' (2007), commissioned and premiered by the New York Philharmonic and the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Bramwell Tovey, conductor *''Hymn to the Sun'' (2008), commissioned and premiered by the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, Alasdair Neale, conductor *''The City'' (2016), commissioned and premiered by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall and the Cabrillo Festival, Marin Alsop, conductor *''Silent Night Elegy'' (cut from his opera ''

'') (2018), commissioned and premiered by the San Francisco Symphony, co-commissioned by the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Cristian Măcelaru, conductor *''Virelai (after Guillaume de Machaut)'' (2019), commissioned and premiered by the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Stéphane Denève, conductor

Wind ensemble

*''Chorus of Light'' (2003), commissioned and premiered by the University of Texas Wind Ensemble, Jerry Junkin, conductor *''Millennium Canons'' (band version arr. Mark Spede) (2003), commissioned and premiered by The University of Texas Wind Ensemble, Jerry Junkin, conductor

SATB choir

*''To Touch the Sky'' (2012), SSAATTBB, commissioned by the Thelma Hunter Fund of the American Composers Forum and Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson, conductor *''If I Were A Swan'' (2012), SSAATTBB, commissioned by the Thelma Hunter Fund of the American Composers Forum and Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson, conductor

Concertos

*Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra (1997), commissioned by the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and the Kobe Ensemble of Japan, Makoto Nakura, marimba *Concerto for Oboe and Strings No. 1 (1997), commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra, Rudolph Vrbsky, oboe *Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra (2006), commissioned by Orange County's Pacific Symphony and the Utah Symphony *''Sinfonia Concertante'' (2006), commissioned by the Minnesota Orchestra *Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (2006), commissioned by Mr. and Mrs. Sid R. Bass for the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Michael Shih, violin; Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor *''Vision'' (Concerto for Cello and Orchestra) (2006), commissioned by the Aspen Music Festival in honor of David Zinman's 70th birthday, Yo-Yo Ma, cello; David Zinman, conductor *''Nā Pali Coast'' (Concerto for Horn and Orchestra) (2008), commissioned by the Mobile Symphony, Jeff Leenhouts, horn; Scott Speck, conductor *''Night'' (Concerto for Piano and Orchestra) (2008), commissioned by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Jeffrey Kahane, piano and conductor *Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra (2009), commissioned by Kathryn Gould through Meet the Composer, premiered by Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Bil Jackson, clarinet; Jeffrey Kahane, conductor *Concerto for Flute and Orchestra (2013), commissioned by Bette and Joe Hirsch, premiered by the Cabrillo Music Festival Orchestra, Adam Walker, flute; Carolyn Kuan, conductor *''Moonlight'' (Concerto for Oboe and Strings No. 2) (2016), commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Peter Cooper, oboe; Brett Mitchell, conductor *''Contact: Triple Concerto for Two Violins, Bass and Orchestra'' (2022), commissioned by Time for Three, premiered by the San Francisco Symphony and The Philadelphia Orchestra Bravo: Program Notes for Concert by Time For Three and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (2024)

Song cycle

*''The Brightness of Light'' (2019)

Opera

*''

'' (2011) *''The Manchurian Candidate'' (2015) *''Elizabeth Cree'' (2017) *'' The Hours'' (2022)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Puts, Kevin 1972 births American opera composers American male opera composers Pulitzer Prize for Music winners Texas classical music Musicians from St. Louis Eastman School of Music alumni Yale University alumni Peabody Institute faculty 20th-century American classical composers 21st-century American classical composers Living people Pupils of Jacob Druckman Classical musicians from Missouri 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians