Contemporary classical music is

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...

composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of

Anton Webern Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and stead ...

, and included serial music,

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electro ...

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

, and

minimalist music In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...

. Newer forms of music include

spectral music Spectral music uses the acoustic properties of sound – or sound spectra – as a basis for composition. Definition Defined in technical language, spectral music is an acoustic musical practice where compositional decisions are often informe ...

, and

post-minimalism Postminimalism is an art term coined (as post-minimalism) by Robert Pincus-Witten in 1971Chilvers, Ian and Glaves-Smith, John, ''A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art'', second edition (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. ...

History

Background

At the beginning of the twentieth century, composers of classical music were experimenting with an increasingly dissonant pitch language, which sometimes yielded

atonal Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on a s ...

pieces. Following World War I, as a backlash against what they saw as the increasingly exaggerated gestures and formlessness of late Romanticism, certain composers adopted a neoclassic style, which sought to recapture the balanced forms and clearly perceptible thematic processes of earlier styles (see also New Objectivity and Social Realism). After World War II, modernist composers sought to achieve greater levels of control in their composition process (e.g., through the use of the

twelve-tone technique The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition first devised by Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer, who published his "law o ...

and later total

serialism In music, serialism is a method of composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though some of his contemporaries were al ...

). At the same time, conversely, composers also experimented with means of abdicating control, exploring indeterminacy or aleatoric processes in smaller or larger degrees. Technological advances led to the birth of electronic music. Experimentation with tape loops and repetitive textures contributed to the advent of

minimalism In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...

. Still other composers started exploring the theatrical potential of the musical performance (

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

, mixed media,

fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finished product. Fluxus ...

). New works of contemporary classical music continue to be created. Each year, the

Boston Conservatory at Berklee Boston Conservatory at Berklee (formerly The Boston Conservatory) is a private performing arts conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, music, and theater. Boston Conservatory was founde ...

presents 700 performances. New works from contemporary classical music program students comprise roughly 150 of these performances.

1945–75

To some extent, European and the US traditions diverged after World War II. Among the most influential composers in Europe were

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mo ...

Luigi Nono Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music. Biography Early years Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono beg ...

, and

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groundb ...

. The first and last were both pupils of

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century. His m ...

. An important aesthetic philosophy as well as a group of compositional techniques at this time was

(also called "through-ordered music", "'total' music" or "total tone ordering"), which took as its starting point the compositions of

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

and

(but was opposed to traditional twelve-tone music), and was also closely related to

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

's idea of the ''

modulor The Modulor is an anthropometric scale of proportions devised by the Swiss-born French architect Le Corbusier (1887–1965). It was developed as a visual bridge between two incompatible scales, the Imperial and the metric systems. It is based ...

''. However, some more traditionally based composers such as

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...

and

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

maintained a tonal style of composition despite the prominent serialist movement. In America, composers like

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 serial and electronic music. Biography Babbitt was born in Philadelphia to Albert E ...

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading f ...

, Elliott Carter,

Henry Cowell Henry Dixon Cowell (; March 11, 1897 – December 10, 1965) was an American composer, writer, pianist, publisher and teacher. Marchioni, Tonimarie (2012)"Henry Cowell: A Life Stranger Than Fiction" ''The Juilliard Journal''. Retrieved 19 June 202 ...

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive ...

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, ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

, formed their own ideas. Some of these composers (Cage, Cowell, Glass, Reich) represented a new methodology of

, which began to question fundamental notions of music such as notation,

performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

, duration, and repetition, while others (Babbitt, Rochberg, Sessions) fashioned their own extensions of the twelve-tone serialism of

Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

Movements

Neoromanticism

The vocabulary of extended tonality, which flourished in the late 19th and very early 20th centuries, continues to be used by contemporary composers. It has never been considered shocking or controversial in the larger musical world—as has been demonstrated statistically for the United States, at least, where "most composers continued working in what has remained throughout this century the mainstream of tonal-oriented composition".

High modernism

Serialism In music, serialism is a method of composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though some of his contemporaries were al ...

is one of the most important post-war movements among the high modernist schools. Serialism, more specifically named "integral" or "compound" serialism, was led by composers such as

Bruno Maderna Bruno Maderna (21 April 1920 – 13 November 1973) was an Italian conductor and composer. Life Maderna was born Bruno Grossato in Venice but later decided to take the name of his mother, Caterina Carolina Maderna.Interview with Maderna‘s th ...

, and

in Europe, and by

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 an ...

, Mario Davidovsky, and

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 ...

in the United States. Some of their compositions use an ordered set or several such sets, which may be the basis for the whole composition, while others use "unordered" sets. The term is also often used for dodecaphony, or

, which is alternatively regarded as the model for integral serialism. Despite its decline in the last third of the 20th century, there remained at the end of the century an active core of composers who continued to advance the ideas and forms of high modernism. Those no longer living included

Pauline Oliveros Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center ...

Toru Takemitsu TORU or Toru may refer to: * TORU, spacecraft system * Toru (given name), Japanese male given name * Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan *Tõru Tõru is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western ...

, Jacob Druckman,

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 ...

, Ralph Shapey.

Franco Donatoni Franco Donatoni (9 June 1927 – 17 August 2000) was an Italian composer. Biography Born in Verona, Donatoni started studying violin at the age of seven, and frequented the local music academy. Later, he studied at the Milan Conservatory ...

, Jonathan Harvey,

Erkki Salmenhaara Erkki Olavi Salmenhaara (March 12, 1941 – March 19, 2002) was a Finnish composer and musicologist. Personal life Salmenhaara was born in Helsinki, Finland, and married Anja Kosonen in 1961. They had two sons, but divorced in 1978. Salmenhaa ...

, and

Henrik Otto Donner Henrik Otto Donner (16 November 1939 – 26 June 2013) was a Finnish composer, musician and all-round music personality. His musical styles varied from pop and rock music to jazz, electronic music and contemporary classical music. Donner's person ...

, Those still living today include

Magnus Lindberg Magnus Gustaf Adolf Lindberg (born 27 June 1958) is a Finnish composer and pianist. He was the New York Philharmonic's composer-in-residence from 2009 to 2012 and has been the London Philharmonic Orchestra's composer-in-residence since the ...

, George Benjamin,

Brian Ferneyhough Brian John Peter Ferneyhough (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer. Ferneyhough is typically considered the central figure of the New Complexity movement. Ferneyhough has taught composition at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and t ...

, Wolfgang Rihm, Richard Wernick, Richard Wilson, and James MacMillan.

Electronic music

= Computer music

= Between 1975 and 1990, a shift in the paradigm of

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations ( computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These prog ...

technology had taken place, making electronic music systems affordable and widely accessible. The personal computer had become an essential component of the electronic musician's equipment, superseding analog

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s and fulfilling the traditional functions of composition and scoring, synthesis and sound processing, sampling of audio input, and control over external equipment.

Music theatre

Spectral music

Polystylism (eclecticism)

Some authors equate polystylism with

eclecticism Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories i ...

, while others make a sharp distinction.

Post-modernism

Minimalism and post-minimalism

Historicism

Musical historicism Musical historicism signifies the use in classical music of historical materials, structures, styles, techniques, media, conceptual content, etc., whether by a single composer or those associated with a particular school, movement, or period. Musi ...

—the use of historical materials, structures, styles, techniques, media, conceptual content, etc., whether by a single composer or those associated with a particular school, movement, or period—is evident to varying degrees in minimalism, post-minimalism, world-music, and other genres in which tonal traditions have been sustained or have undergone a significant revival in recent decades. Some post-minimalist works employ medieval and other genres associated with early music, such as the "Oi me lasso" and other

laude The ''lauda'' (Italian pl. ''laude'') or ''lauda spirituale'' was the most important form of vernacular sacred song in Italy in the late medieval era and Renaissance. ''Laude'' remained popular into the nineteenth century. The lauda was often as ...

Gavin Bryars Richard Gavin Bryars (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer and double bassist. He has worked in jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, historicism, avant-garde, and experimental music. Early life and career Born on 16 January 1943 in ...

. The historicist movement is closely related to the emergence of musicology and the early music revival. A number of historicist composers have been influenced by their intimate familiarity with the instrumental practices of earlier periods (

Hendrik Bouman Hendrik "Henk" Bouman (born 29 September 1951, in Dordrecht)David Cummings, International Who's Who In Music And Musicians' Directory 1994/5, page 92 is a Dutch harpsichordist, fortepianist, conductor and composer of music written in the baroque ...

, Grant Colburn, Michael Talbot, Paulo Galvão, Roman Turovsky-Savchuk). The musical historicism movement has also been stimulated by the formation of such international organizations as the Delian Society and

Vox Saeculorum ''Vox Sæculorum'' is an international society of contemporary composers writing in the Baroque style established in 2006. Vox Sæculorum was the primary focus of a feature-length article on period baroque composition written by Grant Colburn and pu ...

Art rock influence

Some composers have emerged since the 1980s who are influenced by

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ...

, for example, Rhys Chatham.

New Simplicity

New Complexity

New Complexity New Complexity is a label principally applied to composers seeking a "complex, multi-layered interplay of evolutionary processes occurring simultaneously within every dimension of the musical material". Origins Though often atonal, highly abstract ...

is a current within today's European contemporary avant-garde music scene, named in reaction to the New Simplicity. Amongst the candidates suggested for having coined the term are the composer Nigel Osborne, the Belgian musicologist

Harry Halbreich Harry Halbreich (Berlin, 9 February 1931 – Brussels, 27 June 2016) was a Belgian musicologist.Dust jacket biography of Harry Halbreich from Halbreich (2007).Patrick Szersnovicz. Harry Halbreich (obituary). '' Diapason'', September 2016, No.64 ...

, and the British/Australian musicologist Richard Toop, who gave currency to the concept of a movement with his article "Four Facets of the New Complexity". Though often

, highly abstract, and dissonant in sound, the "New Complexity" is most readily characterized by the use of techniques which require complex

musical notation Music notation or musical notation is any system used to visually represent aurally perceived music played with instruments or sung by the human voice through the use of written, printed, or otherwise-produced symbols, including notation f ...

. This includes extended techniques, microtonality, odd tunings, highly disjunct

melodic contour Melodic motion is the quality of movement of a melody, including nearness or farness of successive pitches or notes in a melody. This may be described as conjunct or disjunct, stepwise, skipwise or no movement, respectively. See also contrapunta ...

, innovative

timbre In music, timbre ( ), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or tone. Timbre distinguishes different types of sound production, such as choir voices and musica ...

s, complex

polyrhythms Polyrhythm is the simultaneous use of two or more rhythms that are not readily perceived as deriving from one another, or as simple manifestations of the same meter. The rhythmic layers may be the basis of an entire piece of music (cross-rhyth ...

, unconventional instrumentations, abrupt changes in loudness and intensity, and so on. The diverse group of composers writing in this style includes Richard Barrett,

Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf (born 22 October 1962) is a German composer, editor and author. Career Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf was born in Mannheim, Germany, and studied composition with Brian Ferneyhough, Klaus Huber and Emanuel Nunes and music theory a ...

, James Dillon,

Michael Finnissy Michael Peter Finnissy (born 17 March 1946) is an English composer, pianist, and pedagogue. An immensely prolific composer, his music is "notable for its dramatic urgency and expressive immediacy". Although he rejects the label, he is often r ...

, James Erber, and Roger Redgate.

Developments by medium

Opera

Notable composers of operas since 1975 include: *

Michel van der Aa Michel van der Aa (; born 10 March 1970) is a Dutch composer of contemporary classical music. Early years Michel van der Aa was born 10 March 1970 in Oss. He trained as a recording engineer at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and studie ...

* Mark Adamo *

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 ...

Thomas Adès Thomas Joseph Edmund Adès (born 1 March 1971) is a British composer, pianist and conductor. Five compositions by Adès received votes in the 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000: '' The Tempest'' (2004), '' ...

* Miguel del Águila *

Bruce Adolphe Bruce Adolphe (born May 31, 1955) is a composer, music scholar, the author of several books on music, and pianist. He is currently Resident Lecturer and Director of Family Concerts of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and founder and cre ...

* Robert Ashley * Lera Auerbach * Gerald Barry * George Benjamin * Tim Benjamin *

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...

* Michael Berkeley * Oscar Bianchi *

Harrison Birtwistle Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include '' T ...

Antonio Braga Antonio Braga (22 January 1929 – 26 May 2009 in Naples) was an Italian classical composer. Born in Naples, he wrote ballets, concerto, ouvertures, symphonies and three operas. Works Ballets *Les Abeilles a Naples (1955) *C’è un albero a ...

Rudolf Brucci Rudolf Brucci (Bruči) (March 30, 1917 – October 30, 2002), was a composer of Croatian and Italian origin, born in Zagreb. He was married to Yugoslavian opera singer, . He began his artistic life playing viola in various orchestras, ranging from ...

* Roberto Carnevale * Elliott Carter *

Daniel Catán Daniel Catán Porteny (April 3, 1949 – April 9, 2011) was a Mexican composer, writer and professor known particularly for his operas and his contribution of the Spanish language to the international repertory. With a compositional style ...

Tom Cipullo Tom Cipullo (born November 22, 1956) is an American composer. Known mostly for vocal music, he has also composed orchestral, chamber, and solo instrumental works. His opera, ''Glory Denied'', has been performed to critical acclaim in New York, W ...

* Azio Corghi *

Michael Daugherty Michael Kevin Daugherty (born April 28, 1954) is an American composer, pianist, and teacher. He is influenced by popular culture, Romanticism, and Postmodernism. Daugherty's notable works include his Superman comic book-inspired ''Metropolis Sym ...

* Peter Maxwell Davies *

Julius Eastman Julius Eastman (October 27, 1940 – May 28, 1990) was an American composer, pianist, vocalist, and performance artist whose work is associated with musical minimalism. He was among the first composers to combine minimalist processes with elements ...

John Eaton John Eaton may refer to: *John Eaton (divine) (born 1575), English divine * John Eaton (pirate) (fl. 1683–1686), English buccaneer *Sir John Craig Eaton (1876–1922), Canadian businessman *John Craig Eaton II (born 1937), Canadian businessman an ...

Oscar Edelstein Oscar Edelstein (born 12 June 1953) is a contemporary composer from Argentina. Known for creativity and inventiveness, frequently he is described as leading Latin America's avant-garde. He is also a pianist, conductor, and researcher. Biogra ...

* Marios Joannou Elia *

Péter Eötvös Péter Eötvös ( hu, Eötvös Péter, ; born 2 January 1944) is a Hungarian composer, conductor and teacher. Eötvös was born in Székelyudvarhely, Transylvania, then part of Hungary, now Romania. He studied composition in Budapest and C ...

Mohammed Fairouz Mohammed Fairouz (born November 1, 1985) is an American composer. He is one of the most frequently performed composers of his generation and has been described by Daniel J. Wakin of ''The New York Times'' as an "important new artistic voice". Fa ...

Lorenzo Ferrero Lorenzo Ferrero (; born 1951) is an Italian composer, librettist, author, and book editor. He started composing at an early age and has written over a hundred compositions thus far, including twelve operas, three ballets, and numerous orchestral ...

* Juan Carlos Figueiras *

Luca Francesconi Luca Francesconi (born 17 March 1956) is an Italian composer. He studied at the Milan Conservatory, then with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Luciano Berio. Early years Luca Francesconi was born in Milan. His father was a painter who edited ''Il C ...

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 ...

Ricky Ian Gordon Ricky Ian Gordon (born May 15, 1956) is an American composer of art song, opera and musical theatre. Life Gordon was born in Oceanside, New York. He was raised by his mother, Eve, and father, Sam, and he grew up on Long Island with his three sist ...

* Daron Hagen *

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as ...

Bern Herbolsheimer Bern Herbolsheimer (September 2, 1948 – January 13, 2016) was an American composer. Biography Bern Herbolsheimer received recognition throughout the United States and Europe for over 500 works ranging from ballet to symphonic, operatic, chambe ...

York Höller York Höller (; born 11 January 1944) is a German composer and professor of composition at the Hochschule für Musik Köln. Biography Höller was born in Leverkusen. Between 1963 and 1970 he studied at the Cologne Musikhochschule: composition wit ...

Giselher Klebe Giselher Wolfgang Klebe (28 June 19255 October 2009) was a German composer, and an academic teacher. He composed more than 140 works, among them 14 operas, all based on literary works, eight symphonies, 15 solo concerts, chamber music, piano work ...

Helmut Lachenmann Helmut Friedrich Lachenmann (born 27 November 1935) is a German composer of contemporary classical music. His work has been associated with "instrumental musique concrète". Life and works Lachenmann was born in Stuttgart and after the end of ...

Lori Laitman Lori Laitman is an American composer who has composed multiple operas, choral works, and over 300 songs. Life Laitman was born in Long Beach, New York, in 1955.

* André Laporte *

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century ...

* Liza Lim *

David T. Little David T. Little (born October 25, 1978) is a Grammy-nominated American composer, record producer, and drummer known for his operatic, orchestral, and chamber works, most notably his operas ''JFK,'' ''Soldier Songs'', and '' Dog Days'' which was ...

* Luca Lombardi * Missy Mazzoli *

Richard Meale Richard Graham Meale, AM, MBE (24 August 193223 November 2009) was an Australian composer of instrumental works and operas. Biography Meale was born in Sydney. At the time the Meale family lived in Marrickville, an inner suburb of Sydney. Meale' ...

Robert Moran Robert Moran (born January 8, 1937) is an American composer of operas and ballets as well as numerous orchestral, vocal, chamber and dance works. Life A native of Denver, Moran studied twelve-tone music privately with Hans Apostel in Vienna and ...

* Nico Muhly *

Olga Neuwirth Olga Neuwirth (born 4 August 1968 in Graz) is an Austrian classical composer, visual artist and author. She gained fame mainly through her operas and music theater works, which often deal with topical and decidedly political themes of identity, ...

Per Nørgård Per Nørgård (; born 13 July 1932) is a Danish composer and music theorist. Though his style has varied considerably throughout his career, his music has often included repeatedly evolving melodies—such as the infinity series—in the vein o ...

Michael Nyman Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film scores (many written during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Gre ...

Michael Obst Michael Obst may refer to: * Michael Obst (rower) * Michael Obst (composer) Michael Obst (born 30 November 1955) is a German composer and pianist. Life Obst was born in Frankfurt am Main. He studied music education from 1973 to 1978 in Main ...

* Jocy de Oliveira *

Marcus Paus Marcus Nicolay Paus (; born 14 October 1979) is a Norwegian composer and one of the most performed contemporary Scandinavian composers. As a classical contemporary composer he is noted as a representative of a reorientation toward tradition, tonal ...

Henri Pousseur Henri Léon Marie-Thérèse Pousseur (23 June 1929 – 6 March 2009) was a Belgian classical composer, teacher, and music theorist. Biography Pousseur was born in Malmedy and studied at the Academies of Music in Liège and in Brussels from 1947 ...

* Kevin Puts *

Einojuhani Rautavaara Einojuhani Rautavaara (; 9 October 1928 – 27 July 2016) was a Finnish composer of classical music. Among the most notable Finnish composers since Jean Sibelius (1865–1957), Rautavaara wrote a great number of works spanning various styles. T ...

Kaija Saariaho Kaija Anneli Saariaho (; ; born 14 October 1952) is a Finnish composer based in Paris, France. During the course of her career, Saariaho has received commissions from the Lincoln Center for the Kronos Quartet and from IRCAM for the Ensemble Inte ...

* Aulis Sallinen * Carol Sams *

David Sawer David Sawer (born 14 September 1961), is a British composer of opera and choral, orchestral and chamber music. Biography Sawer was born in Stockport, England. After attending Ipswich School, he studied music at the University of York where he b ...

Howard Shore Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer and conductor noted for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for ''The Lord of the Rings'' and '' The Hobbit'' film trilogies. ...

Louis Siciliano Louis Siciliano (born in Naples, Italy - March 19, 1975) is a Jazz and World-Music composer, piano and synth performer, sound engineer and music producer. Career Siciliano produced, composed, orchestrated, conducted and mixed soundtracks for fe ...

Somtow Sucharitkul S. P. Somtow (a rearrangement of his real name Somtow Papinian Sucharitkul; th, สมเถา สุจริตกุล; ; born 30 December 1952) is a Thai-American musical composer. He is also a science fiction, fantasy, and horror autho ...

* Josef Tal *

Stefano Vagnini Stefano Vagnini (born 1963) is an Italian musician, composer, researcher, poet and Modular Art theorist. Biography Stefano Vagnini was born in Fano, Italy. Vagnini studied organ, composition and electronic music at the “ G. Rossini” conse ...

Claude Vivier Claude Vivier ( ; baptised as Claude Roger; 14 April 19487 March 1983) was a Canadian contemporary composer, pianist, poet and ethnomusicologist of Québécois origin. After studying with Karlheinz Stockhausen in Cologne, Vivier became an in ...

* Judith Weir

Cinema and television

Notable composers of post-1945 classical film and television scores include:Craggs, Stewart R. 2020 ''Soundtracks. International Dictionary of Composers of Music for Film'' * Michael Abels *

Elmer Bernstein Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 origi ...

* Howard Blake *

Bruce Broughton Bruce Harold Broughton (born March 8, 1945) is an American orchestral composer of television, film, and video game scores and concert works. He has composed several highly acclaimed soundtracks over his extensive career and has contributed man ...

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 ...

* John Debney * Alexandre Desplat *

Ramin Djawadi Ramin Djawadi (, fa, رامین جوادی; born 19 July 1974) is an Iranian and German score composer. He is known for his scores for the 2008 Marvel film ''Iron Man'' and the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'', for which he was nominated for Gramm ...

Danny Elfman Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the singer-songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since the 1990s, Elfman has garnered internation ...

* Brad Fiedel *

Robert Folk Robert Folk (born March 5, 1949) is an American film and television composer and conductor who has written many movie scores, as well as other orchestral music in a classical style. Life and career Robert Folk is a graduate and former facult ...

Benjamin Frankel Benjamin Frankel (31 January 190612 February 1973) was a British composer. His best known pieces include a cycle of five string quartets, eight symphonies, and concertos for violin and viola. He was also notable for writing over 100 film scores ...

* Michael Giacchino * Ernest Gold *

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the ''Rambo'' franc ...

Bernard Herrmann Bernard Herrmann (born Maximillian Herman; June 29, 1911December 24, 1975) was an American composer and conductor best known for his work in composing for films. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely r ...

* Joe Hisaishi *

James Horner James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American composer. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements, and for his frequent use of motifs associated with Celtic music. Horner's first film score was in ...

Akira Ifukube was a Japanese classical and film music composer, best known for his works on the ''Godzilla'' franchise. Biography Early years in Hokkaido Akira Ifukube was born on 31 May 1914 in Kushiro, Japan as the third son of a police officer Toshimi ...

Shin'ichirō Ikebe Shin'ichirō Ikebe ( ja , 池辺晋一郎 ''Ikebe Shin'ichirō''; born September 15, 1943 in Mito, Ibaraki) is a Japanese composer of contemporary classical music. Overviews He has written the scores for many films by Akira Kurosawa and ...

Henry Jackman Henry Pryce Jackman (born 1974) is an English composer. He composed music for films such as '' Kong: Skull Island'', '' X-Men: First Class'', '' Winnie the Pooh'', '' Wreck-It Ralph'', '' Puss in Boots'', '' Monsters vs. Aliens'', '' Captain ...

Steve Jablonsky Steve Jablonsky (born October 9, 1970) is an American composer for film, television and video games, best known for his musical scores in the ''Transformers'' film series. Some of his frequent collaboration partners include film directors Michae ...

Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, and session musician. Biography Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was bor ...

Aram Khachaturian Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; rus, Арам Ильич Хачатурян, , ɐˈram ɨˈlʲjitɕ xətɕɪtʊˈrʲan, Ru-Aram Ilyich Khachaturian.ogg; hy, Արամ Խաչատրյան, ''Aram Xačʿatryan''; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet and Armenia ...

Wojciech Kilar Wojciech Kilar (; 17 July 1932 – 29 December 2013) was a Polish classical and film music composer. One of his greatest successes came with his score to Francis Ford Coppola's '' Bram Stoker's Dracula'' in 1992, which received the ASCAP Award a ...

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classi ...

* David Newman *

Alex North Alex North (born Isadore Soifer, December 4, 1910 – September 8, 1991) was an American composer best known for his many film scores, including ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (one of the first jazz-based film scores), '' Viva Zapata!'', '' S ...

* John Powell *

Leonard Rosenman Leonard Rosenman (September 7, 1924 – March 4, 2008) was an American film, television and concert composer with credits in over 130 works, including '' East of Eden'', ''Rebel without a Cause'', '' Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home'', ''Beneath th ...

Nino Rota Giovanni Rota Rinaldi (; 3 December 1911 – 10 April 1979), better known as Nino Rota (), was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor and academic who is best known for his film scores, notably for the films of Federico Fellini and Luchino Visco ...

* Miklós Rózsa * Alfred Schnittke *

Alan Silvestri Alan Anthony Silvestri (born March 26, 1950) is an American composer and conductor of film and television scores. He has been associated with director Robert Zemeckis since 1984, composing music for all of his feature films including the ''Bac ...

* Tōru Takemitsu *

Dimitri Tiomkin Dimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin (, ; May 10, 1894 – November 11, 1979) was a Russian-born American film composer and conductor. Classically trained in St. Petersburg, Russia before the Bolshevik Revolution, he moved to Berlin and then New York Ci ...

Brian Tyler Brian Theodore Tyler (born May 8, 1972) is an American composer, conductor, arranger, and record producer, best known for his film, television, and video game scores. In his 24-year career, Tyler has scored '' Transformers: Prime'', ''Eagle E ...

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

Franz Waxman Franz Waxman (né Wachsmann; December 24, 1906February 24, 1967) was a German-born composer and conductor of Jewish descent, known primarily for his work in the film music genre. His film scores include ''Bride of Frankenstein'', ''Rebecca'', ' ...

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review '' WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Oscars and four Grammys, and has been nominated for two Emmys and a Tony. Zimmer was also named on the list of Top 100 Living G ...

Proves notability. Contemporary classical music originally written for the concert hall can also be heard on the music track of some films, such as Stanley Kubrick's '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968) and ''

Eyes Wide Shut ''Eyes Wide Shut'' is a 1999 erotic mystery psychological drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick. It is based on the 1926 novella '' Traumnovelle'' (''Dream Story'') by Arthur Schnitzler, transferring the story's set ...

'' (1999), both of which used concert music by

, and also in Kubrick's '' The Shining'' (1980) which used music by both Ligeti and

Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best known works include ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', ' ...

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran ...

, in '' La Chinoise'' (1967),

Nicolas Roeg Nicolas Jack Roeg (; 15 August 1928 – 23 November 2018) was an English film director and cinematographer, best known for directing ''Performance'' (1970), '' Walkabout'' (1971), ''Don't Look Now'' (1973), '' The Man Who Fell to Earth'' (1976 ...

in '' Walkabout'' (1971), and the

Brothers Quay Stephen and Timothy Quay ( ; born June 17, 1947) are American identical twin brothers and stop-motion animators who are better known as the Brothers Quay or Quay Brothers. They were also the recipients of the 1998 Drama Desk Award for Outstandin ...

in ''In Absentia'' (2000) used music by

Chamber

Some notable works for chamber orchestra: *

Composition for Twelve Instruments ''Composition for Twelve Instruments'' (1948, rev. 1954) is a Serialism, serial music composition written by American composer Milton Babbitt for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, harp, celesta, violin, viola, cello, and double bass. I ...

(1948, rev. 1954) –

* Concerto for seven wind instruments, timpani, percussion, and string orchestra (1949) – Frank Martin * Drei Lieder (1950) –

* ''

Nummer 2 ''Nummer 2'' for thirteen instruments (also called ''Opus 2 for thirteen instruments'') is a composition written in 1951 by the Belgian composer Karel Goeyvaerts. ''Nummer 2'' has been claimed as the first "total serial" composition. though the s ...

'' (1951) – Karel Goeyvaerts * ''

Oiseaux exotiques ''Oiseaux exotiques'' (''Exotic birds'') is a piece for piano and small orchestra by Olivier Messiaen. It was written between 5 October 1953 and 3 January 1956 and was commissioned by Pierre Boulez. It is dedicated to Yvonne Loriod, the composer' ...

'' (1956) –

* ''Requiem'' for strings (1957) – Tōru Takemitsu * ''

Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima (''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for 52 string instruments'') , other_name = , year = , catalogue = , period = Contemporary, postmodernism , genre = Sonorism, avant-gard ...

'' (1960) –

Double Concerto A double concerto (Italian: ''Doppio concerto''; German: ''Doppelkonzert'') is a concerto featuring two performers—as opposed to the usual single performer, in the solo role. The two performers' instruments may be of the same type, as in Bach's ...

for harpsichord and piano with two chamber orchestras (1961) – Elliott Carter * '' Stop'' (1965) – Karlheinz Stockhausen * Fantasia for Strings (1966) –

* ''Ojikawa'' (1968) –

Concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typ ...

for clarinet and vibraphone with six instrumental formations (1968) – Jean Barraqué * '' Ramifications'' (1968–69) –

* '' Compases para preguntas ensimismadas'' (1970) – Hans Werner Henze * '' Recital I (for Cathy)'' (1972) –

* '' Trois airs pour un opéra imaginaire'' (1982) –

* Guitar Concerto No. 2 for guitar and strings (1985) –

Alan Hovhaness Alan Hovhaness (; March 8, 1911 – June 21, 2000) was an American- Armenian composer. He was one of the most prolific 20th-century composers, with his official catalog comprising 67 numbered symphonies (surviving manuscripts indicate over 70) a ...

* ''Invocation'' for Oboe and Guitar (1993) – Apostolos Paraskevas * '' Kol-Od'' (1996) – Luciano Berio * '' Asko Concerto'' (2000) – Elliott Carter * '' Dialogues'' for piano and chamber orchestra (2003) – Elliott Carter * '' Fünf Sternzeichen'' (2004) – Karlheinz Stockhausen * '' Fünf weitere Sternzeichen'' (2007) – Karlheinz Stockhausen * ''Diário das Narrativas Fantásticas'' (2019) –

Caio Facó Caio Facó (born May 16, 1992) is a Brazilian composer. Biography Facó worked as a composer in residence for Ensemble MPMP (Portugal, 2017) and Orquestra de Câmara de Valdivia (Chile, 2017–19). He also worked with the International Contemp ...

Concert bands (wind ensembles)

In recent years, many composers have composed for

concert band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion fami ...

s (also called wind ensembles). Notable composers include: * James Barnes * Leslie Bassett * David Bedford * Richard Rodney Bennett *

Warren Benson Warren Benson (January 26, 1924 – October 6, 2005) was an American composer. His compositions consist mostly of music for wind instruments and percussion. His most notable piece is titled ''The Leaves Are Falling''. Biography Benson was born in ...

* Steven Bryant *

Daniel Bukvich Daniel Bukvich (born 1954) is an American composer and percussionist. He has been a professor of percussion and music theory at the Lionel Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho since 1978. He is heavily involved in the Lionel Hampton ...

* Mark Camphouse * Michael Colgrass *

John Corigliano John Paul Corigliano Jr. (born February 16, 1938) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. His scores, now numbering over one hundred, have won him the Pulitzer Prize, five Grammy Awards, Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, an ...

* David Del Tredici * Thomas C. Duffy * Eric Ewazen * Aldo Rafael Forte * Michael Gandolfi *

David Gillingham David R. Gillingham (born October 20, 1947) is an American contemporary composer, who is known for his works for concert band and percussion ensemble. Biography He attended the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh for his undergraduate degree in ...

Julie Giroux Julie Ann Giroux (born December 12, 1961 in Fairhaven, Massachusetts) is an American pianist and composer of orchestral, choral, chamber, and numerous concert band works. Biography Giroux graduated from Ouachita Parish High School, in Mon ...

* Peter Graham * Donald Grantham *

Edward Gregson Edward Gregson (born 23 July 1945) is an English composer of instrumental and choral music, particularly for brass and wind bands and ensembles, as well as music for the theatre, film, and television. He was also principal of the Royal Northern ...

* John Harbison * Samuel Hazo *

Kenneth Hesketh Kenneth Hesketh (born 20 July 1968) is a British composer of contemporary classical music in numerous genres including dance, orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo. He has also composed music for wind and brass bands as well as seasonal music for ...

* Karel Husa *

Yasuhide Ito is a contemporary Japanese composer. Early life As a child, Ito began to cultivate his interest in music by taking piano lessons. He continued to pursue a musical education and, by his third year of high school, had composed his first piece o ...

Scott Lindroth Scott Allen Lindroth (born 1958) is an American composer and teacher based near Durham, North Carolina. Lindroth joined the faculty of Duke University in 1990, where he is the Vice-Provost for the Arts and the Kevin D. Gorter Associate Professor ...

* Scott McAllister * W. Francis McBeth * James MacMillan *

Cindy McTee Cindy McTee (born February 20, 1953) is an American composer and educator. Early life and education McTee was born in Tacoma, Washington. She studied at Pacific Lutheran University, the Academy of Music in Kraków, Yale University, and the Univers ...

* David Maslanka * Nicholas Maw * John Mackey *

Johan de Meij Johannes Abraham "Johan" de Meij (; born November 23, 1953 in Voorburg) is a Dutch conductor, trombonist, and composer, best known for his '' Symphony No. 1'' for wind ensemble, nicknamed ''The Lord of the Rings'' symphony. Biography Johan de ...

* Lior Navok * Ron Nelson *

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. Hi ...

Vincent Persichetti Vincent Ludwig Persichetti (June 6, 1915 – August 14, 1987) was an American composer, teacher, and pianist. An important musical educator and writer, he was known for his integration of various new ideas in musical composition into his own wo ...

* * Alfred Reed * Steven Reineke * * Gunther Schuller *

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. Schwantne ...

* Robert W. Smith * Philip Sparke * Jack Stamp *

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 ...

Frank Ticheli Frank Ticheli (born January 21, 1958) is an American composer of orchestral, choral, chamber, and concert band works. He lives in Los Angeles, California, where he is a Professor of Composition at the University of Southern California. He was ...

Michael Tippett Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War. In his lifetime he was sometimes ranked with his contemporary Benjamin Britten ...

Jan Van der Roost Jan Van der Roost (born Duffel, 1956) is a Belgian composer. Van der Roost was educated at the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven (1974-1979), and followed further studies at the Royal Conservatory in Ghent and the Royal Flemish Conservatory in Antwerp ...

* Dan Welcher *

Eric Whitacre Eric Edward Whitacre (born January2, 1970) is an American composer, conductor, and speaker best known for his choral music. In March2016, he was appointed as Los Angeles Master Chorale's first artist-in-residence at the Walt Disney Concert Hall ...

Dana Wilson Dana Richard Wilson (born 1946) is an American composer, jazz pianist, and teacher. He grew up in Wilton, CT, and holds a B.A. from Bowdoin College, an M.A. from the University of Connecticut, and a doctorate from the Eastman School of Music. ...

* Guy Woolfenden * Charles Rochester Young

Festivals

The following is an incomplete list of contemporary-music festivals: *

Ars Musica {{Notability, date=June 2020 Founded in 1989, Ars Musica is an annual contemporary music international festival that takes place in Brussels during several weeks, usually in March. Nowadays, Ars musica is one of the biggest world festival for con ...

, Brussels, Belgium * Bang on a Can Marathon *

Big Ears Festival The Big Ears Festival is an annual music festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, created and produced by AC Entertainment. History The festival was founded in 2009 by Ashley Capps, founder of AC Entertainment. The festival was originally organized by ...

* Darmstädter Ferienkurse * Donaueschingen Festival * in Caracas, Venezuela * Gaudeamus Foundation Music Week in Amsterdam *

Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (also known by the acronym HCMF, stylised since 2006 as the lowercase hcmf//) is a new music festival held annually in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Since its foundation in 1978, it has featu ...

* Lucerne Festival in Switzerland * MATA Festival in New York *

Music Biennale Zagreb Music Biennale Zagreb ( hr, Muzički biennale Zagreb, MBZ) is an international festival of contemporary music in Zagreb, Croatia, organized by the Croatian Composers' Society. The Biennale, founded by Milko Kelemen and held every spring of the od ...

Musica (French music festival) Musica is a festival of contemporary classical music held annually in Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and larg ...

* New Music Gathering * November Music in 's Hertogenbosch (the Netherlands) * Other Minds in San Francisco *

Peninsula Arts Contemporary Music Festival The University of Plymouth Contemporary Music Festival is held in Plymouth, Devon, England. It has a program of leading-edge orchestral, operatic, jazz, and electroacoustic performances, along with film, and music theatre. Composers and perfor ...

* Warsaw Autumn in Poland * George Enescu Festival in Romania * Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, California

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * (Subscription access)

External links

Sussurro
– Contemporary Brazilian music
Gateway to contemporary music resources in France

highSCORE Festival

"Guide to contemporary music"

Bachtrack ''Bachtrack'' is a London-based international online music magazine which publishes listings of classical music, opera, ballet and dance, as well as reviews of these genres, interviews and general feature articles. History Bachtrack Ltd was r ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Contemporary Classical Music

History

Background

1945–75

Movements

Neoromanticism

High modernism

Electronic music

= Computer music

Music theatre

Spectral music

Polystylism (eclecticism)

Post-modernism

Minimalism and post-minimalism

Historicism

Art rock influence

New Simplicity

New Complexity

Developments by medium

Opera

Cinema and television

Chamber

Concert bands (wind ensembles)

Festivals

See also

Notes

Sources

Further reading

External links