The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven

Pulitzer Prizes The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made hi ...

awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943.

Joseph Pulitzer Joseph Pulitzer ( ; born Pulitzer József, ; April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911) was a Hungarian-American politician and newspaper publisher of the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' and the ''New York World''. He became a leading national figure in ...

arranged for a music

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted into a prize: "For a distinguished musical composition of significant dimension by an American that has had its first performance in the United States during the year." Because of the requirement that the composition have its world premiere during the year of its award, the winning work had rarely been recorded and sometimes had received only one performance. In 2004 the terms were modified to read, "For a distinguished musical composition by an American that has had its first performance or recording in the United States during the year."

History

In his will, dated April 16, 1904, Joseph Pulitzer established annual prizes for a number of creative accomplishments by living Americans, including prizes for journalism, novels, plays, histories and biographies, but did not establish a prize in music, choosing instead to inaugurate an annual scholarship for "the student of music in America whom the Advisory Board shall deem the most talented and deserving, in order that he may continue his studies with the advantage of European instruction." The Pulitzer Prize for Music was instituted in 1943 to recognize works of "music in its larger forms as composed by an American." The phrase "music in its larger forms" proved difficult to interpret for the advisory board and the prize's juries, resulting in controversies over the years. One critic of the award said, "The Prize Board could hardly have chosen more offensive words to communicate its message." In 1965, the jury unanimously decided that no major work was worthy of the Pulitzer Prize. Instead, it recommended a special citation be given to

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

in recognition of his body of work, but the Pulitzer Board refused and therefore no award was given that year. Ellington responded: "Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to be too famous too young." (He was then 67 years old.) Despite this joke,

Nat Hentoff Nathan Irving Hentoff (June 10, 1925 – January 7, 2017) was an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media. Hentoff was a columnist for ''The Village Voice'' from 1958 to 2009. Fol ...

reported that when he spoke to Ellington about the subject, he was "angrier than I'd ever seen him before", and Ellington said, "I'm hardly surprised that my kind of music is still without, let us say, official honor at home. Most Americans still take it for granted that European-based music—classical music, if you will—is the only really respectable kind." In 1996, after years of internal debate, the Pulitzer Board announced a change in the criteria for the music prize "so as to attract the best of a wider range of American music." The result was that the next year,

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Award ...

became the first jazz artist to win the Pulitzer Prize. But his victory was controversial because, according to the Pulitzer guidelines, his winning work, ''

Blood on the Fields ''Blood on the Fields'' is a two-and-a-half-hour jazz oratorio by Wynton Marsalis. It was commissioned by Lincoln Center and treats the history of slavery and its aftermath in the United States of America. The oratorio tells the story of two slav ...

'', a three-hour-long oratorio about slavery, should not have been eligible. Winning works are supposed to have had their first performance during the year of the award, but Marsalis's piece premiered on April 1, 1994, and its recording, released on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

, was dated 1995. Yet the piece won the 1997 prize. Marsalis's management had submitted a "revised version" of ''Blood on the Fields'' that "premiered" at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

after Marsalis made seven small changes. When asked what would make a revised work eligible, the chairman of that year's music jury, Robert Ward, said: "Not a cut here and there...or a slight revision", but rather something that changed "the whole conception of the piece." After being read the list of revisions made to the piece, Ward acknowledged that the minor changes should not have made it eligible, but said, "the list you had here was not available to us, and we did not discuss it." Nine women have received the Pulitzer Prize:

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Ellen Taaffe Zwilich ( ; born April 30, 1939) is an American composer, the first female composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Her early works are marked by atonal exploration, but by the late 1980s, she had shifted to a postmodernist, n ...

in 1983;

Shulamit Ran Shulamit Ran ( he, שולמית רן; born October 21, 1949, in Tel Aviv, Israel) is an Israeli-American composer. She moved from Israel to New York City at 14, as a scholarship student at the Mannes College of Music. Her Symphony (1990) won her th ...

in 1991;

Melinda Wagner Melinda Jane Wagner (born 1957 in Philadelphia) is a US composer, and winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize in music. Her undergraduate degree is from Hamilton College. She received her graduates degrees from University of Chicago and University of P ...

in 1999; Jennifer Higdon in 2010;

Caroline Shaw Caroline Adelaide Shaw (born August 1, 1982) is an American composer, violinist, and singer. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013 for her a cappella piece '' Partita for 8 Voices'' and the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Contemporar ...

in 2013;

Julia Wolfe Julia Wolfe (born December 18, 1958) is an American composer and professor of music at New York University. According to ''The Wall Street Journal'', Wolfe's music has "long inhabited a terrain of its own, a place where classical forms are re ...

in 2015;

Du Yun Du Yun (traditional Chinese: 杜韻, simplified Chinese: 杜韵) is a Chinese-born American composer, performer, vocalist and performance artist. She won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her opera ''Angel's Bone'', with libretto by Royce ...

in 2017;

Ellen Reid Ellen Lorraine Reid (born 14 July 1966) is a Canadian musician. She provides backing vocals, piano, keyboards and accordion for the Canadian rock band Crash Test Dummies. Early life and education Reid was born and grew up in Selkirk, Manito ...

in 2019; and

Tania León Tania León (born May 14, 1943) is a Cuban-born American composer of both large scale and chamber works. She is also renowned as a conductor, educator, and advisor to arts organizations. Early years and education She was born Tania Justina Leó ...

in 2021. In addition to being the first woman to receive the award, Zwilich was also the first woman to receive a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition at the Juilliard School of Music. Du is the first woman of color to receive the award.

George Walker George Walker may refer to: Arts and letters * George Walker (chess player) (1803–1879), English chess player and writer *George Walker (composer) (1922–2018), American composer * George Walker (illustrator) (1781–1856), author of ''The Co ...

was the first African American composer to win the Prize, for his work ''Lilacs'' in 1996. In 1992 the music jury, which that year consisted of

George Perle George Perle (6 May 1915 – 23 January 2009) was an American composer and music theorist. As a composer, his music was largely atonal, using methods similar to the twelve-tone technique of the Second Viennese School. This serialist style, and ...

Roger Reynolds Roger Lee Reynolds (born July 18, 1934) is a Pulitzer prize-winning American composer. He is known for his capacity to integrate diverse ideas and resources, and for the seamless blending of traditional musical sounds with those newly enabled by t ...

, and Harvey Sollberger, chose

Ralph Shapey Ralph Shapey (12 March 1921 – 13 June 2002) was an American composer and conductor. Biography Shapey was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is known for his work as a composition professor at the University of Chicago, where he taught ...

's ''

Concerto Fantastique ''Concerto Fantastique'' is an orchestral composition in four movements by the American composer Ralph Shapey. The work was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, who first performed the work under the composer on November 21, 1991. It ...

'' for the award. The Pulitzer Board rejected that decision and gave the prize to the jury's second choice,

Wayne Peterson Wayne Peterson (September 3, 1927April 7, 2021) was an American composer, pianist, and educator. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Music for '' The Face of the Night, the Heart of the Dark'' in 1992, when its board overturned the jury's unanimous s ...

's ''

The Face of the Night, the Heart of the Dark ''The Face of the Night, the Heart of the Dark'' is an orchestral composition in one movement by the American composer Wayne Peterson. The piece was first performed by the San Francisco Symphony under the conductor David Zinman in October 1991. ...

''. The jury responded with a public statement that they had not been consulted in that decision and that the Board was not professionally qualified to make such a decision. The Board responded that the "Pulitzers are enhanced by having, in addition to the professional's point of view, the layman's or consumer's point of view" and did not rescind its decision. In 2004, responding to criticism,

Sig Gissler Sig Gissler is an American former professor of journalism at Columbia University and the former administrator of the Pulitzer Prize. Biography Sig Gissler was born in Chicago. He is a graduate of Lake Forest College and completed graduate work in ...

, the administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes at the

Columbia University School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sc ...

, announced that the board wanted to "broaden the prize a bit so that we can be more assured that we are getting the full range of the best of America's music". Board member Jay T. Harris said, "The prize should not be reserved essentially for music that comes out of the European classical tradition." The announced rule changes included altering the jury pool to include performers and presenters in addition to composers and critics. Entrants are no longer required to submit a score. Recordings are also accepted, although scores are still "strongly urged." Gissler said, "The main thing is we're trying to keep this a serious prize. We're not trying to dumb it down any way shape or form, but we're trying to augment it, improve it...I think the critical term here is 'distinguished American musical compositions.'" Reaction among Pulitzer Prize in Music winners has varied. The Pulitzer Prize Advisory Board officially announced: "After more than a year of studying the Prize, now in its 61st year, the Pulitzer Prize Board declares its strong desire to consider and honor the full range of distinguished American musical compositions—from the contemporary classical symphony to jazz, opera, choral, musical theater, movie scores and other forms of musical excellence...Through the years, the Prize has been awarded chiefly to composers of classical music and, quite properly, that has been of large importance to the arts community. However, despite some past efforts to broaden the competition, only once has the Prize gone to a jazz composition, a musical drama or a movie score. In the late 1990s, the Board took tacit note of the criticism leveled at its predecessors for failure to cite two of the country's foremost jazz composers. It bestowed a Special Citation on

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

marking the 1998 centennial celebration of his birth and

on his 1999 centennial year. Earlier, in 1976, a Special Award was made to Scott Joplin in the

American Bicentennial The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States of America as an independent republic. It was a central event ...

year. While Special Awards and Citations continue to be an important option, the Pulitzer Board believes that the Music Prize, in its own annual competition, should encompass the nation's array of distinguished music and hopes that the refinements in the Prize's definition, guidelines and jury membership will serve that end.” In 2006, a posthumous "Special Citation" was given to jazz composer

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...

, and in 2007 the prize went to

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Colle ...

, a free jazz composer, for his disc '' Sound Grammar'', a recording of a 2005 concert, the first time a recording won the music Pulitzer, and a first for purely improvised music. In 2018, rapper

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his Progressive rap, progressive musical styles and Social consciousness, socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most infl ...

won the award for his 2017 hip hop album '' Damn''. The recording was the first musical work not in the jazz or classical genre to win the prize.

Criticism

In 2004,

Donald Martino Donald James Martino (May 16, 1931 – December 8, 2005) was a Pulitzer Prize winning American composer. Biography Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, Martino attended Plainfield High School. He began as a clarinetist, playing jazz for fun and ...

, the 1974 winner, said, "If you write music long enough, sooner or later, someone is going to take pity on you and give you the damn thing. It is not always the award for the best piece of the year; it has gone to whoever hasn't gotten it before." John Corigliano, the 2001 winner, said that although the prize was intended for music that meant something to the world, it had become a very different kind of award, "by composers for composers" and "mired in a pool of rotating jurors." Composer and music critic

Kyle Gann Kyle Eugene Gann (born November 21, 1955, in Dallas, Texas) is an American professor of music, critic, analyst, and composer who has worked primarily in the New York City area. As a music critic for ''The Village Voice'' (from 1986 to 2005) and ...

complained in his essay "The Uptown Prejudice Against Downtown Music" that the judges for the Pulitzer and other top awards for composition often included "the same seven names over and over as judges":

Gunther Schuller Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician. Biography and works Early years Schuller was born in Queens, New York City, ...

Joseph Schwantner Joseph Clyde Schwantner (born March 22, 1943, Chicago, Illinois) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning 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 ...

Jacob Druckman Jacob Raphael Druckman (June 26, 1928 – May 24, 1996) was an American composer born in Philadelphia. Life A graduate of the Juilliard School in 1956, Druckman studied with Vincent Persichetti, Peter Mennin, and Bernard Wagenaar. In 1949 and 1 ...

John Harbison John Harris Harbison (born December 20, 1938) is an American composer, known for his symphonies, operas, and large choral works. Life John Harris Harbison was born on December 20, 1938, in Orange, New Jersey, to the historian Elmore Harris Harb ...

Mario Davidovsky Mario Davidovsky (March 4, 1934 – August 23, 2019) was an Argentine-American composer. Born in Argentina, he emigrated in 1960 to the United States, where he lived for the remainder of his life. He is best known for his series of compositions ca ...

, and

Bernard Rands Bernard Rands (born 2 March 1934 in Sheffield, England) is a British-American contemporary classical music composer. He studied music and English literature at the University of Wales, Bangor, and composition with Pierre Boulez and Bruno Maderna ...

. Gann argued that "Downtown" composers like himself did not win awards because the composer-judges were all "white men, all of them coming pretty much from the same narrow

Eurocentric Eurocentrism (also Eurocentricity or Western-centrism) is a worldview that is centered on Western civilization or a biased view that favors it over non-Western civilizations. The exact scope of Eurocentrism varies from the entire Western worl ...

aesthetic Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed th ...

.... These seven men have determined who wins the big prizes in American music for the last two decades. They have made sure that Downtown composers never win." In his list of writings, Gann includes this essay under the heading "On Gann's music". After winning the Pulitzer in 2003,

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

expressed "ambivalence bordering on contempt" because "most of the country's greatest musical minds" have been ignored in favor of academic music. Schuller welcomed the broadening of the eligibility criteria for the prize in 2004: "This is a long overdue sea change in the whole attitude as to what can be considered for the prize. It is an opening up to different styles and not at all to different levels of quality." Composer

Olly Wilson Olly Woodrow Wilson, Jr. (September 7, 1937 – March 12, 2018) was an American composer of contemporary classical music, pianist, double bassist, and a musicologist. He was one of the most preeminent composers of African American descent in the ...

agreed that the changes were "a move in the right direction" because they acknowledge "a wider spectrum of music, including music that is not written down." Some other former prize winners disagreed. Harbison called it "a horrible development", adding, "If you were to impose a comparable standard on fiction you would be soliciting entries from the authors of airport novels." According to Martino, the prize had "already begun to go in the direction of permitting less serious stuff" before the 2004 changes.

Lewis Spratlan M. Lewis Spratlan Jr. (born September 5, 1940) is an American music academic and composer of contemporary classical music. Biography Lewis Spratlan, recipient of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize in music and the Charles Ives Opera Award (2016) from the Am ...

, who won the prize in 2000, also objected, saying "The Pulitzer is one of the very few prizes that award artistic distinction in front-edge, risk-taking music. To dilute this objective by inviting the likes of musicals and movie scores, no matter how excellent, is to undermine the distinctiveness and capability for artistic advancement." In 2018, 1970 winner

Charles Wuorinen Charles Peter Wuorinen (; June 9, 1938 – March 11, 2020) was an American composer of contemporary classical music based in New York City. He performed his works and other 20th-century music as pianist and conductor. He composed more than ...

denounced the jury for awarding the music award to Lamar, telling the ''New York Times'' the decision constituted "the final disappearance of any societal interest in high culture."

Winners

In its first 71 years, the Music Pulitzer was awarded 67 times; it was never split, and no prize was given in 1953, 1964, 1965, or 1981."Music"
The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved December 20, 2013.

1940s

* 1943:

William Schuman William Howard Schuman (August 4, 1910February 15, 1992) was an American composer and arts administrator. Life Schuman was born into a Jewish family in Manhattan, New York City, son of Samuel and Rachel Schuman. He was named after the 27th U.S. ...

, '' Secular Cantata No. 2: A Free Song'' * 1944:

Howard Hanson Howard Harold Hanson (October 28, 1896 – February 26, 1981)''The New York Times'' – Obituaries. Harold C. Schonberg. February 28, 1981 p. 1011/ref> was an American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion of American class ...

, Symphony No. 4, ''Requiem'' * 1945:

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

, ''

Appalachian Spring ''Appalachian Spring'' is a musical composition by Aaron Copland that was premiered in 1944 and has achieved widespread and enduring popularity as an orchestral suite. The music, scored for a thirteen-member chamber orchestra, was created upon c ...

'',

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

* 1946:

Leo Sowerby Leo Salkeld Sowerby (1 May 1895 – 7 July 1968) was an American composer and church musician. He won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1946 and was often called the “Dean of American church music” in the early to mid 20th century. Biography ...

, '' The Canticle of the Sun'' * 1947:

Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, one of the first American composers of international renown. His music was largely ignored during his early career, and many of his works went unperformed f ...

, Symphony No. 3 * 1948:

Walter Piston Walter Hamor Piston, Jr. (January 20, 1894 – November 12, 1976), was an American composer of classical music, music theorist, and professor of music at Harvard University. Life Piston was born in Rockland, Maine at 15 Ocean Street to Walter Ha ...

, Symphony No. 3 * 1949:

Virgil Thomson Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 – September 30, 1989) was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclassic ...

, ''

Louisiana Story ''Louisiana Story'' is a 1948 American black-and-white drama film directed by Robert J. Flaherty. Although it has historically been represented as a documentary film, the events and characters depicted are fictional and the film was commissioned ...

'', film score

1950s

* 1950:

Gian Carlo Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian composer, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept h ...

, ''

The Consul ''The Consul'' is an opera in three acts with music and libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti, his first full-length opera. Performance history Its first performance was on March 1, 1950 at the Schubert Theatre in Philadelphia with Patricia Neway as t ...

'',

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

* 1951: Douglas Stuart Moore, '' Giants in the Earth'', opera * 1952:

Gail Kubik Gail Thompson Kubik (September 5, 1914, South Coffeyville, Oklahoma – July 20, 1984, Covina, California) was an American composer, music director, violinist, and teacher. Early life, education, and career Kubik was born to Henry and Evelyn O. K ...

, '' Symphony Concertante'' * 1953: no prize awarded * 1954:

Quincy Porter William Quincy Porter (February 7, 1897 – November 12, 1966) was an American composer and teacher of classical music. Biography Born in New Haven, Connecticut, he went to Yale University where his teachers included Horatio Parker and David St ...

, ''Concerto Concertante'' for two

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

s and

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

* 1955:

, ''

The Saint of Bleecker Street ''The Saint of Bleecker Street'' is an opera in three acts by Gian Carlo Menotti to an original English libretto by the composer. It was first performed at the Broadway Theatre in New York City on December 27, 1954. David Poleri and Davis Cunni ...

'', opera * 1956:

Ernst Toch Ernst Toch (; 7 December 1887 – 1 October 1964) was an Austrian composer of classical music and film scores. He sought throughout his life to introduce new approaches to music. Biography Toch was born in Leopoldstadt, Vienna, into the family ...

, Symphony No. 3 * 1957:

Norman Dello Joio Norman Dello Joio (January 24, 1913July 24, 2008) was an American composer active for over half a century. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1957. Life Dello Joio was born Nicodemo DeGioio in New York City to Italian immigrants. He began his music ...

, ''Meditations on Ecclesiastes'' * 1958:

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. The music critic Donal Henahan said, "Proba ...

, ''

Vanessa Vanessa may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Vanessa'' (Millais painting), an 1868 painting by Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais * ''Vanessa'', a 1933 novel by Hugh Walpole * ''Vanessa'', a 1952 instrumental song written by Bernie ...

'', opera * 1959:

John La Montaine John Maynard La Montaine, also later LaMontaine, (March 17, 1920 – April 29, 2013) was an American pianist and composer, born in Oak Park, Illinois, who won the 1959 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his Piano Concerto No. 1 "In Time of War" (1958), ...

, Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 9.

1960s

* 1960:

Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer. One of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century, he combined elements of European modernism and American "ultra- ...

, String Quartet No. 2 * 1961:

, Symphony No. 7 * 1962: Robert Ward, ''

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as a ...

'', opera * 1963:

Piano Concerto A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpiec ...

* 1964: no prize awarded * 1965: no prize awarded (See

) * 1966:

Leslie Bassett Leslie Raymond Bassett (22 January 1923 – 4 February 2016) was an American composer of classical music. Bassett received the 1966 Pulitzer Prize in Music. Bassett had a lifelong relationship with the University of Michigan School of Music. ...

, '' Variations for Orchestra'' * 1967:

Leon Kirchner Leon Kirchner (January 24, 1919 – September 17, 2009) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he won a Pulitzer Pr ...

, Quartet No. 3 for

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

and electronic tape * 1968:

George Crumb George Henry Crumb Jr. (24 October 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an American composer of avant-garde contemporary classical music. Early in his life he rejected the widespread modernist usage of serialism, developing a highly personal musical ...

, ''

Echoes of Time and the River ''Echoes of Time and the River'' (''Echoes II'') is an orchestral suite by the American composer George Crumb. It was commissioned by the University of Chicago to commemorate the university's 75th anniversary. The piece was first performed by t ...

'' * 1969:

Karel Husa Karel Husa (August 7, 1921 – December 14, 2016) was a Czech-born classical composer and conductor, winner of the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Music and 1993 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition. In 1954, he emigrated to t ...

, String Quartet No. 3

1970s

* 1970:

, ''

Time's Encomium ''Time's Encomium'' (Jan. 1968-Jan. 1969, 31'43") is an electronic, four channel, musical composition by Charles Wuorinen for synthesized and processed synthesized sound. Released on Nonesuch Records in 1969, the composition was commissioned by ...

'' * 1971:

, '' Synchronisms No. 6'' for Piano and Electronic Sound (1970) * 1972:

, ''

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

'' * 1973:

, String Quartet No. 3 * 1974:

, ''Notturno'' * 1975:

Dominick Argento Dominick Argento (October 27, 1927 – February 20, 2019) was an American composer known for his lyric operatic and choral music. Among his best known pieces are the operas '' Postcard from Morocco'', '' Miss Havisham's Fire'', ''The Masque of An ...

, ''

From the Diary of Virginia Woolf ''From the Diary of Virginia Woolf'' is an eight-part song cycle written by Dominick Argento in 1974 for the English mezzo-soprano Janet Baker. The work won the Pulitzer Prize for Music The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Pr ...

'' * 1976:

Ned Rorem Ned Rorem (October 23, 1923 – November 18, 2022) was an American composer of contemporary classical music and writer. Best known for his art songs, which number over 500, Rorem was the leading American of his time writing in the genre. Althou ...

, '' Air Music'' * 1977:

Richard Wernick Richard Wernick (born January 16, 1934, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American composer. He is best known for his chamber and vocal works. His composition ''Visions of Terror and Wonder'' won the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Music. Career Wernick b ...

, ''Visions of Terror and Wonder'' * 1978:

Michael Colgrass Michael Charles Colgrass (April 22, 1932 – July 2, 2019) was an American-born Canada-based musician, composer, and educator. Life and career Colgrass was born in Brookfield, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. His musical career began in Chicag ...

, ''Deja Vu'' for

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

and

* 1979:

, '' Aftertones of Infinity''

1980s

Indented entries are finalists after each year's winner. * 1980:

David Del Tredici David Walter Del Tredici (born March 16, 1937) is an American composer. He has won a Pulitzer Prize for Music and is a former Guggenheim and Woodrow Wilson fellow. Del Tredici is considered a pioneer of the Neo-Romantic movement. He has also be ...

, ''In Memory of a Summer Day'' **

Morton Subotnick Morton Subotnick (born April 14, 1933) is an American composer of electronic music, best known for his 1967 composition '' Silver Apples of the Moon'', the first electronic work commissioned by a record company, Nonesuch. He was one of the foun ...

, ''After the Butterfly'' **

Lukas Foss Lukas Foss (August 15, 1922 – February 1, 2009) was a German-American composer, pianist, and conductor. Career Born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922, Foss was soon recognized as a child prodigy. He began piano and theory lessons with J ...

, ''Quintets for Orchestra'' * 1981: no prize awarded * 1982:

Roger Sessions Roger Huntington Sessions (December 28, 1896March 16, 1985) was an American composer, teacher and musicologist. He had initially started his career writing in a neoclassical style, but gradually moved further towards more complex harmonies and ...

, '' Concerto for Orchestra'' * 1983: Ellen Zwilich, '' Three Movements for Orchestra'' (Symphony No. 1) ** Vivian Fine, ''Drama for Orchestra'' * 1984:

, '' Canti del Sole'' **

Peter Lieberson Peter Goddard Lieberson (25 October 1946 – 23 April 2011) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. His song cycles include two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Music: '' Rilke Songs'' and ''Neruda Songs''; the latter won t ...

, ''

'', * 1985:

Stephen Albert Stephen Joel Albert (6 February 1941 – 27 December 1992) was an American composer. He is best known for his Symphony No. 1 ''RiverRun'' (1983) and Cello Concerto (1990) written for Yo-Yo Ma, both of which won a Pulitzer Prize for Music. He d ...

, Symphony No. 1 ''RiverRun'' **

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 ...

, ''Songs of Innocence and Experience, a Musical Illumination of the Poems of William Blake'' * 1986:

, '' Wind Quintet No. 4'', for

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

, and

bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

George Rochberg George Rochberg (July 5, 1918May 29, 2005) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. Long a serial composer, Rochberg abandoned the practice following the death of his teenage son in 1964; he claimed this compositional technique ...

, '' Symphony No. 5'' * 1987:

, ''

The Flight into Egypt The flight into Egypt is a story recounted in the Gospel of Matthew ( Matthew 2:13– 23) and in New Testament apocrypha. Soon after the visit by the Magi, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to flee to Egypt with Mary and the i ...

'' **

, ''Flower of the Mountain'' * 1988:

, ''12 New Etudes for Piano'' **

, '' Concerto For String Quartet and Orchestra'' * 1989:

, '' Whispers Out of Time'' **

Steven Stucky Steven Edward Stucky (November 7, 1949 − February 14, 2016) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer. Life and career Stucky was born in Hutchinson, Kansas. At age 9, he moved with his family to Abilene, Texas, where, as a teenager, he ...

, '' Concerto for Orchestra'' **

Bright Sheng Bright Sheng ( Chinese: 盛宗亮 pinyin: ''Shèng Zōngliàng''; born December 6, 1955) is a Chinese-born American composer, pianist and conductor. Sheng has earned many honors for his music and compositions, including a MacArthur Fellowship in ...

, ''H'un (Lacerations): In Memoriam 1966–1976''

1990s

* 1990: Mel D. Powell, '' Duplicates: A Concerto'' **

, ''

Concerto for Cello, Piano, and String Orchestra The Concerto for Cello, Piano, and String Orchestra is a composition for solo cello, piano, and a large string orchestra by the American composer Ralph Shapey. The work was composed for the cellist Joel Krosnick and the pianist Gilbert Kalish an ...

'' * 1991:

, ''

Symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

'' **

, ''Four Movements for Piano'' ** Charles Fussell, ''Wilde'' * 1992:

, ''

'' **

, ''

'' * 1993: Christopher Rouse, '' Trombone Concerto'' **

, '' Music for Cello and Orchestra'' **

Joan Tower Joan Tower (born September 6, 1938)http://www.schirmer.com/default.aspx?TabId=2419&State_2872=2&ComposerId_2872=1605 Biography on Schirmer is a Grammy-winning contemporary American composer, concert pianist and conductor. Lauded by ''The New York ...

, ''

Violin Concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

'' * 1994:

, '' Of Reminiscences and Reflections'' **

Aaron Jay Kernis Aaron Jay Kernis (born January 15, 1960) is a Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy Award-winning American composer serving as a member of the Yale School of Music faculty. Kernis spent 15 years as the music advisor to the Minnesota Orchestra and as Dir ...

, '' Still Movement with Hymn'' **

, '' Microsymphony'' * 1995:

Morton Gould Morton Gould (December 10, 1913February 21, 1996) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, and pianist. Biography Morton Gould was born in Richmond Hill, New York, United States. He was recognized early as a child prodigy with abilities i ...

, ''

Stringmusic ''Stringmusic'' is a musical composition for string orchestra by the American composer Morton Gould. It was commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra and was premiered at the Kennedy Center by the NSO on March 10, 1994. The piece is dedicat ...

'' **

Donald Erb Donald Erb (January 17, 1927 – August 12, 2008) was an American composer best known for large orchestral works such as Concerto for Brass and Orchestra and ''Ritual Observances''. Early years Erb was born in Youngstown, Ohio, graduated ...

, ''Evensong'' **

Andrew Imbrie Andrew Welsh Imbrie (April 6, 1921 – December 5, 2007) was an American contemporary classical music composer and pianist. Career Imbrie was born in New York City and began his musical training as a pianist when he was 4. In 1937, he went to Par ...

, ''Adam'' * 1996:

, ''

Lilacs The Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (in Portuguese), acronym LILACS, and previously called Latin American Index Medicus,Piegas MH, Nowinski A. Index Medicus Latino-Americano: exemplo de cooperação técnica entre pa ...

'', for

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

and orchestra **

, ''Variations for Violin and Piano'' **

, '' Adagio tenebroso'' * 1997:

, ''

'',

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

John Musto John Musto (born 1954) is an American composer and pianist. As a composer, he is active in opera, orchestral and chamber music, song, vocal ensemble, and solo piano works. As a pianist, he performs frequently as a soloist, alone and with orch ...

, ''Dove Sta Amore'' **

Stanisław Skrowaczewski Stanislaw Pawel Stefan Jan Sebastian Skrowaczewski (; October 3, 1923 – February 21, 2017) was a Polish-American classical conductor and composer. Biography Skrowaczewski was born in Lwów, Second Polish Republic (now Lviv, Ukraine). His pa ...

, ''Passacaglia Immaginaria'' * 1998:

, String Quartet No. 2, ''Musica Instrumentalis'' **

, '' Century Rolls'' ** Yehudi Wyner, ''Horntrio'' * 1999:

, '' Concerto for Flute, Strings, and Percussion'' **

David Rakowski David Rakowski (born June 13, 1958, St. Albans, Vermont) is an American composer and typeface designer. He studied under such composers as Robert Ceely, John Heiss, Milton Babbitt, Peter Westergaard, Paul Lansky, and Luciano Berio. In 2006, he w ...

, ''Persistent Memory'' **

, '' Concerto for Orchestra''

2000s

* 2000:

, '' Life Is a Dream'',

(awarded for concert version of Act II) **

: ''Serenata Concertante'' **

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jaz ...

: ''contes de fees'' * 2001: John Corigliano, ''Symphony No. 2'', for string orchestra ** Stephen Hartke, ''Tituli'' **

Fred Lerdahl Alfred Whitford (Fred) Lerdahl (born March 10, 1943, in Madison, Wisconsin) is the Fritz Reiner Professor Emeritus of Musical Composition at Columbia University, and a composer and music theorist best known for his work on musical grammar and co ...

, ''Time After Time'' * 2002:

Henry Brant Henry Dreyfuss Brant (September 15, 1913 – April 26, 2008) was a Canadian-born American composer. An expert orchestrator with a flair for experimentation, many of Brant's works featured spatialization techniques. Biography Brant was born i ...

, ''

Ice Field An ice field (also spelled icefield) is a mass of interconnected valley glaciers (also called mountain glaciers or alpine glaciers) on a mountain mass with protruding rock ridges or summits. They are often found in the colder climates and highe ...

'' **

, ''

Rilke Songs ''Rilke Songs'' is a composition for mezzo-soprano and piano by the American composer Peter Lieberson. The work is set to poetry by the Bohemian-Austrian writer Rainer Maria Rilke. It was composed for Lieberson's wife Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, ...

'' **

, ''Ten of a Kind'' * 2003:

, ''

On the Transmigration of Souls ''On the Transmigration of Souls ''is a composition for orchestra, chorus, children's choir, and pre-recorded tape by the American composer John Adams (born 1947). It was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center's Great Per ...

'' **

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, a ...

: '' Three Tales'' **

Paul Schoenfield Paul Schoenfield, also spelled Paul Schoenfeld, is a classical composer. He is known for combining popular, folk, and classical music forms. Schoenfield was born in 1947 in Detroit, Michigan. He began to take piano lessons at the age of six, ...

: ''Camp Songs'' * 2004:

Paul Moravec Paul Moravec (born November 2, 1957) is an American composer and a University Professor at Adelphi University on Long Island, New York and also a member of the composition department of the Mannes School of Music . Already a prolific composer, he ...

, '' Tempest Fantasy'' **

: ''

Cello Counterpoint ''Cello Counterpoint'' is a composition for cello and pre-recorded tape by the American composer Steve Reich. The work was jointly commissioned by the Koussevitzky Foundation in the Library of Congress, the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and ...

'' **

: '' Piano Concerto No. 3'' * 2005:

, '' Second Concerto for Orchestra'' **

: ''You Are (Variations)'' **

: ''

Dialogues Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literary and theatrical form that depicts such an exchange. As a philosophical or didactic device, it is chi ...

'' * 2006: Yehudi Wyner, '' Chiavi in Mano'' (

piano concerto A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpiec ...

) **

: ''

Neruda Songs The ''Neruda Songs'' are a cycle of five songs composed for mezzo-soprano soloist and orchestra by the American composer Peter Lieberson (1946–2011) for his wife, singer Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (1954–2006). The cycle is a setting of poems by ...

'' **

Chen Yi Chen Yi may refer to: * Xuanzang (602–664), born as Chen Yi, Chinese Buddhist monk in Tang Dynasty * Chen Yi (Kuomintang) Chen Yi (; courtesy names Gongxia (公俠) and later Gongqia (公洽), sobriquet Tuisu (退素); May 3, 1883 – June ...

: ''Si Ji (Four Seasons)'' * 2007:

, '' Sound Grammar'' **

Elliot Goldenthal Elliot Goldenthal (born May 2, 1954) is an American composer of contemporary classical music and film and theatrical scores. A student of Aaron Copland and John Corigliano, he is best known for his distinctive style and ability to blend various ...

: ''Grendel'' **

Augusta Read Thomas Augusta Read Thomas (born April 24, 1964) is an American composer and professor. Biography Thomas studied composition with Oliver Knussen at Tanglewood; Jacob Druckman at Yale University; Alan Stout and Bill Karlins at Northwestern University ...

: ''

Astral Canticle ''Astral Canticle'' is a double concerto for violin, flute, and orchestra by the American composer Augusta Read Thomas. The work was Thomas's sixth and final commission by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra before she concluded her nine-year tenure t ...

'' * 2008: David Lang, ''

The Little Match Girl Passion ''The Little Match Girl Passion'' is a choral work by David Lang, based on the 1845 Hans Christian Andersen story, "The Little Match Girl". It is influenced by Johann Sebastian Bach’s '' St Matthew Passion'' (1727) and won the Pulitzer Prize f ...

'' ** Stephen Hartke: ''Meanwhile'' **

Roberto Sierra Roberto Sierra (born 9 October 1953) is a Puerto Rican composer of contemporary classical music. Life Sierra was born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. He studied composition in Europe, notably with György Ligeti in Hamburg (1979–1982), Germany. Af ...

: ''Concerto for Viola'' * 2009:

, '' Double Sextet'' **

Don Byron Donald Byron (born November 8, 1958) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He primarily plays clarinet but has also played bass clarinet and saxophone in a variety of genres that includes free jazz and klezmer. Biography His mother w ...

: ''7 Etudes for Solo Piano'' **

Harold Meltzer Harold Meltzer (born 1966 in Brooklyn) is an American composer. Harold is inspired by a wide variety of stimuli, from architectural spaces to postmodern fairy tales and messages inscribed in fortune cookies. In ''Fanfare (magazine), Fanfare Magazin ...

: ''Brion''

2010s

* 2010: Jennifer Higdon, ''

'' **

: ''String Quartet No. 3'' **

: '' Steel Hammer'' * 2011:

Zhou Long Zhou Long (; born July 8, 1953) is a Chinese American composer. He won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Music. Biography Zhou Long was born in Beijing, China. Born into an artistic family, he began studying piano from an early age. Due to the artist ...

, ''

Madame White Snake The Legend of the White Snake is a Chinese legend. It has since been presented in a number of major Chinese operas, films, and television series. The earliest attempt to fictionalize the story in printed form appears to be ''The White Maiden ...

'', opera **

: ''

Arches An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vault ...

'' **

Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon (born 1962, in Guadalajara, México) is a Mexican-American composer and chair of the composition department at Eastman School of Music. He received the Helen L. Weiss Music Prize in 1991. His ''Comala'' (2010, Bridge Records ...

: ''Comala'' * 2012:

Kevin Puts Kevin Matthew Puts (born January 3, 1972) is an American composer, best known for winning a Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for his first opera, ''Silent Night''. Early life and education Puts was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Alma, Michi ...

, '' Silent Night: Opera in Two Acts'' **

Tod Machover Tod Machover (born November 24, 1953, in Mount Vernon, New York), is a composer and an innovator in the application of technology in music. He is the son of Wilma Machover, a pianist and Carl Machover, a computer scientist. He was named Direct ...

: ''Death and the Powers'' **

Andrew Norman Andrew Norman (born October 31, 1979) is an American composer of contemporary classical music whose texturally complex music is influenced by architecture and the visual arts. His string trio '' The Companion Guide to Rome'' (2010), was a runne ...

: ''

The Companion Guide to Rome ''The Companion Guide to Rome'' is a composition for string trio by the American composer Andrew Norman. The complete work was first performed on May 30, 2010 by the Scharoun Ensemble at Radialsystem V in Berlin. Norman, Andrew (2010)''The Compani ...

'' * 2013:

, ''

Partita for 8 Voices ''Partita for 8 Voices'' is an a cappella composition by American composer Caroline Shaw. It was composed from 2009 through 2012 for the vocal group Roomful of Teeth and was released on their Grammy Award-winning self-titled debut album on 30 ...

'' **

: '' Pieces of Winter Sky'' **

Wadada Leo Smith Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (born December 18, 1941) is an American trumpeter and composer, working primarily in the fields of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation. He was one of three finalists for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Music for ''Ten Free ...

: ''

Ten Freedom Summers ''Ten Freedom Summers'' is a four-disc box set by American trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith. It was released on May 5, 2012, by Cuneiform Records. Smith wrote its compositions intermittently over the course of 34 years, beginning in 1977, ...

'' * 2014:

John Luther Adams John Luther Adams (born January 23, 1953) is an American composer whose music is inspired by nature, especially the landscapes of Alaska, where he lived from 1978 to 2014. His orchestral work '' Become Ocean'' was awarded the 2014 Pulitzer Priz ...

, '' Become Ocean'' **

: ''

The Gospel According to the Other Mary ''The Gospel According to the Other Mary'' is an opera-oratorio by the American composer John Adams (composer), John Adams. The world premiere took place on May 31, 2012, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles with Gustavo Dudamel conducti ...

'' ** Christopher Cerrone: ''Invisible Cities'' * 2015:

, ''

Anthracite Fields ''Anthracite Fields'' is an oratorio for choir and chamber ensemble by the American composer Julia Wolfe. The work was commissioned by the Mendelssohn Club with contributions from New Music USA and was premiered by Bang on a Can All Stars and ...

'' ** Lei Liang: ''Xiaoxiang'' **

: ''The Aristos'' * 2016:

Henry Threadgill Henry Threadgill (born February 15, 1944) is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. He came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles rooted in jazz but with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating other genres of music. He h ...

, ''

In for a Penny, In for a Pound ''In for a Penny, In for a Pound'' is an album composed by Henry Threadgill for his jazz quintet Zooid, featuring Jose Davila, Liberty Ellman, Christopher Hoffman, and Elliot Humberto Kavee. It was released by Pi Recordings and was awarded the 2 ...

'' **

Timo Andres Timo is a masculine given name. It is primarily used in Finnish, Estonian, Dutch and German societies. It may be used as an abbreviation of Timothy. Arts and entertainment *Timo Alakotila (born 1959), Finnish musician * Timo Andres (born 1985), ...

: ''The Blind Banister'' **

Carter Pann Carter Pann (born February 21, 1972 in La Grange, Illinois) is an American composer. He studied composition and piano at the Eastman School of Music and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree. His ...

: ''The Mechanics: Six from the Shop Floor'' * 2017:

, '' Angel's Bone'', opera **

Ashley Fure Ashley Fure (born 1982) is an American composer. She has received the Rome Prize and a Guggenheim Fellowship (2017), and her composition ''Bound to the Bow'' (2016) was a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in Music. Early life Fure grew up in ...

: ''Bound to the Bow'' **

Kate Soper Kate Soper (born 1943) is a British philosopher. She is currently Visiting Professor at the University of Brighton.http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/staff/kate-soper Background Soper was educated at the University of Oxford (BA) and worked as a trans ...

: ''Ipsa Dixit'' * 2018:

, '' Damn'', album ** Michael Gilbertson: ''Quartet'' **

Ted Hearne Ted Hearne (born 1982) is an American composer, singer and conductor. He currently lives in Los Angeles, CA. Biography Ted Hearne was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, where he was a member of the Chicago Children's Choir and graduate of W ...

: ''Sound from the Bench'' * 2019:

, ''

Prism Prism usually refers to: * Prism (optics), a transparent optical component with flat surfaces that refract light * Prism (geometry), a kind of polyhedron Prism may also refer to: Science and mathematics * Prism (geology), a type of sedimentary ...

'', opera ** James Romig, ''Still'' **

, ''Sustain''

2020s

* 2020: Anthony Davis, '' The Central Park Five'', opera **

Alex Weiser Alex Weiser is an American composer of contemporary classical music. Biography Weiser was born in New York City to a Jewish family. He attended Stuyvesant High School and Yale University, and received a master's degree in Music Theory and Compos ...

, ''and all the days were purple'' **

Michael Torke Michael Torke (; born September 22, 1961) is an American composer who writes music influenced by jazz and minimalism. Torke was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he attended Wilson Elementary School, graduated from Wauwatosa East High School, an ...

, ''Sky: Concerto for Violin'' * 2021:

, ''

Stride Stride or STRIDE may refer to: Computing * STRIDE (security), spoofing, tampering, repudiation, information disclosure, denial of service, elevation of privilege * Stride (software), a successor to the cloud-based HipChat, a corporate cloud-based ...

'' **

Maria Schneider Maria Schneider may refer to: * Maria Schneider (politician) (born 1923), East German politician * Maria Schneider (actress) (1952–2011), French actress * Maria Schneider (musician) Maria Lynn Schneider (born November 27, 1960) is an Americ ...

, '' Data Lords'' **

, ''Place'' * 2022:

Raven Chacon Raven Chacon (born 1977) is a Diné-American composer, musician and artist. Born in Fort Defiance, Arizona within the Navajo Nation, Chacon became the first Native American to win a Pulitzer Prize for Music, for his '' Voiceless Mass'' in 2022. ...

, '' Voiceless Mass'' **

Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti Leilehua Lanzilotti, in full Anne Victoria Leilehua Lanzilotti, bynames Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti and Anne Lanzilotti, (born November 5, 1983, Philadelphia, PA), is a Kanaka Maoli composer, sound artist, and scholar of contemporary classical music ...

, ''with eyes the color of time'' ** Andy Akiho, ''Seven Pillars''

Additional citations

* 1974:

(1896–1985) * 1976: Scott Joplin (1868–1917, posthumous) * 1982:

Milton Babbitt Milton Byron Babbitt (May 10, 1916 – January 29, 2011) was an American composer, music theorist, mathematician, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his Serialism, serial and electronic music. Biography Babbitt was born in Philadelphia t ...

(1916–2011) * 1985:

(1910–1992) * 1998:

(1898–1937, posthumous) * 1999:

(1899–1974, posthumous) * 2006:

(1917–1982, posthumous) * 2007:

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

(1926–1967, posthumous) * 2008:

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

(born 1941) * 2010:

Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

(1923–1953, posthumous) * 2019:

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

(1942–2018, posthumous)

Repeat winners

Four people have won the Pulitzer Prize for Music twice: *

, 1948, 1961 *

, 1950, 1955 *

, 1958, 1963 *

, 1960, 1973

References

External links

*
The Pulitzer Prize for Music: A Sonic Gallery
{{Authority control

Music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

American music awards Awards established in 1943 1943 establishments in the United States

History

Criticism

Winners

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Additional citations

Repeat winners

References

Further reading

External links