John Harbison

Composer

Birthday December 20, 1938

Birth Sign Sagittarius

Birthplace New Jersey

Age 86 years old

#292,670 Most Popular

About

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer known for his symphonies, operas, and large choral works. He worked with Peter Maxwell Davies in 1991 as Music Director of the Ojai Music Festival.

Before Fame

He won the BMI Foundation's Student Composer Award for composition at the age of 16. He wrote a piece for the Papal Concert of Reconciliation and debuted "Abraham" in 2004 with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

Trivia

He won the Pulitzer Prize for Music for "The Flight into Egypt" in 1987.

Family Life

His father was the famed historian Elmore Harris Harbison. His sisters Helen and Margaret both became musicians as well. He married violinist Rose Mary Harbison.

Associated With

His 1999 opera "The Great Gatsby" was based off the book of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald.