Aaron Jay Kernis
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About
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and professor who wrote concertos for cello, English horn, violin, and toy piano. He was known for "Dream of the Morning Sky," "Colored Field," "Lament and Prayer," "New Era Dance," and other orchestral works.
Before Fame
He studied music at the San Francisco Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, and Yale University. His teachers included John Adams, Charles Wuorinen, Bernard Rands, Morton Subotnick, and Jacob Druckman.
Trivia
He became in 1998 one of the youngest composers to ever win the Pulitzer Prize for 'Musica Instrumentalis,' which was inspired by String Quartet No. 9's last movement by Ludwig van Beethoven.
Family Life
He was born in Bensalem Township outside of Philadelphia. He fathered two children with his wife, pianist Evelyne Luest.
Associated With
He and Elliott Carter were both recipients of the Rome Prize.
