CORIGLIANO, JOHN  BIOGRAPHY

John Corigliano is one of the finest and most widely recognized American composers. Among the dozens of citations, doctorates, and other honors he has received are included all of the most important music awards — several Grammys, a Pulitzer Prize for his Second Symphony, a Grawemeyer, and an Academy Award for his score to François Girard's 1997 film The Red Violin. One of the few living composers to have a string quartet named after him, Corigliano's work has been performed by some of the most visible orchestras, soloists and chamber musicians in the world, and recorded on the Sony, RCA, BMG, Telarc, Erato, Ondine, New World, CRI and Naxos labels.

Born in New York City on 16 February 1938, the son of a violinist, John Corigliano studied at Columbia University, before embarking on a varied musical career. He was music programmer for several radio stations, assistant to Leonard Bernstein on his Young People’s Concerts, record producer for CBS and teacher at various institutions including the Juilliard School. He was the first Composer-in-Residence of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1991.

His earlier works develop further the musical language of composers such as Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland and their contemporaries, followed by a period of wider experiment in the use of more varied musical materials. His opera The Ghosts of Versailles was staged at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1992, when it was chosen for the Composition of the Year award of the International Music Awards. His film scores include the very popular The Red Violin of 1997.

Corigliano serves on the faculty at the Juilliard School of Music, and holds the position of Distinguished Professor of Music at Lehman College, City University of New York, which established a composition scholarship in his name.