List of American composers

The following is a partial list of American composers.

"For a more complete list, see"

A

*Rod Abernethy video games, film and TV
*John Coolidge Adams (born 1947), minimalist
*Leroy Anderson (1908–1975)
*T. J. Anderson (born 1928)
*Alfredo Antonini (1901–1983) Composer and Conductor
*Robert Ashley (born 1930)
*Larry Austin (born 1930)

B

*Milton Babbitt
*Burt Bacharach (born 1928), composer of "What The World Needs Now Is Love"
*Samuel Barber (1910–1981), 20th century composer, famous for his "Adagio for Strings"
*Matthew Barnson
*Tyler Bates Movie Score [Rob Zombie's Halloween, Dawn of the Dead]
*Amy Beach
*Supply Belcher
*Irving Berlin (1888–1989), composer of "White Christmas" and "God Bless America"
*Elmer Bernstein
*Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990), also conductor and pianist, composed the music for "West Side Story"
*William Billings
*Phillip Bimstein
*William Bolcom
*George Brunner

C

*John Cage (1912–1992), experimental composer of conceptual and aleatoric music, known for the "silent" 4'33"
*John Alden Carpenter
*Elliott Carter
*Kristopher Carter
*Aaron Copland (1900–1990), 20th century "American"-school [cite news
url=http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/03/14/specials/copland-reach.html
title=He Wanted to Reach Us
first=Harold
last=Schoenberg
publisher=New York Times
date=1971-02-28
accessdate=2006-08-16 ] composer known for the ballet "Rodeo" and "Appalachian Spring" as well as "Fanfare for the Common Man"
*John Corigliano (born 1938) Pulitzer Prize winner, film scores for "Altered States", "Revolution", and "The Red Violin"
*Henry Cowell (1897–1965)
*Noah Creshevsky (born 1945 in Rochester, New York)
*George Crumb (born 1929), composer known for experimenting with unusual timbres and extended technique, noted for "Black Angels"

D E F G

*Katherine K. Davis
*Norman Dello Joio
*David Diamond
*James DiPasquale
*Charles Dodge (composer)
*Dennis Eberhard (1943–2005)
*Danny Elfman (born 1953), contemporary film score composer, wrote the theme song to the TV show "The Simpsons" and "Desperate Housewives"
*Abraham Ellstein
*Henry Fillmore march and rag composer, wrote such pieces as Rolling Thunder and Lassus Trombone
*Stephen Foster
*J. Ryan Garber
*Daniel E. Gawthrop
*George Gershwin (1898–1937), classical, Broadway and jazz composer, wrote "Rhapsody in Blue"
*Michael Giacchino
*Philip Glass (born 1937), 20th century minimalist composer
*Frederick Grant Gleason
*Jerry Goldsmith
*Louis Moreau Gottschalk
*Robert Greenberg
*Mark Gresham (born 1956)

H I J K

*Howard Hanson
*Don L. Harper
*Roy Harris
*Lou Harrison (1917–2003)
*Walter Hartley
*Samuel Hazo
*Anthony Philip Heinrich (1781–1861)
*Bernard Herrmann
*Michael Hersch
*Alan Hovhaness (1911–2000), among the most prolific composers of the 20th century, of Armenian decent
*Charles Ives (1874–1954), 19th and 20th century modernist composer, best known for his 114 songs and his four symphonies
*Philip James
*David N. Johnson (1922–1987), Composer of organ and church music.
*Edwin Arthur Jones
*Ron Jones
*Scott Joplin (1868–1917), ragtime composer, wrote "The Entertainer" and the opera "Treemonisha"
*Bradley Joseph (born 1965)
*Karl King (1891–1971), march composer, best known for his circus marches
*Charles Knox (born 1929)

L M N O

*Joseph Lamb
*Vanessa Lann (born 1968)
*Libby Larsen (born 1950)
*Benjamin Lees
*David Leisner (born 1953)
*Peter Scott Lewis (born 1953)
*Paul Alan Levi (born 1941)
*Arjen Anthony Lucassen
*Edward MacDowell
*Paul Manz (born 1919)Composer or organ and church music.
*Daniel Gregory Mason (1873–1953)
*Christian McLeer
*Alan Menken (born 1949)
*Peter Mennin
*Edgar Meyer
*Undine Smith Moore
*Justin Morgan
*Nico Muhly
*Carli Muñoz
*Armen Nalbandian (born 1978)
*Robert Anthony Navarro (born 1972)
*David Newman
*Roger Nichols
*Alex North
*Mark O'Connor
*Pauline Oliveros (born 1932)
*Chris Opperman (born 1978)
*Leo Ornstein
*Craig Alan Owens

P Q R

*John Knowles Paine
*Horatio Parker
*Harry Partch
*Scott Perkins
*William Perry
*Vincent Persichetti
*Daniel Pinkham
*Walter Piston
*Cole Porter (1891–1964), 20th century composer, wrote the music for "Anything Goes"
*Quincy Porter
*Key Poulan
*André Previn
*Ray Reach
*Alfred Reed
*Steve Reich
*Leon René
*David Rhodes (born 1974)
*Terry Riley (born 1935)
*Curtis Roads
*Eugénie R. Rocherolle
*David Rosenboom
*Carl Ruggles

S T U

*Stephen Scott
*Neil Sedaka (born 1939) composer of "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do"
* Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901–1953), modernist composer, influenced by atonality and folk music, noted for her "String Quartet"
*John Serry, Sr.
*Roger Sessions
*Ralph Shapey
*Alex Shapiro
*Michael Jeffrey Shapiro (born 1951)
*Sinyan Shen
*Charles Shere
*Gregory Short
*Elie Siegmeister (1909-1991)
*Arlene Sierra
*Louis Silvers
*Robert W. Smith
*Stephen Sondheim
*John Philip Sousa (1854–1932), bandleader and composer, wrote marches, such as "Stars and Stripes Forever", operas and songs
*William Grant Still (1895–1978), regarded as the first significant African-American symphonist
*Allen Strange
*Tomas Svoboda (born 1939), prolific contemporary classical composer of Czech decent.
*Elizabeth Swados
*James Swearingen
*James Tenney

V W X Y Z

*Ezequiel Viñao
*Robert Voisey
*George Walker (born 1922), 20th century composer, won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1996 for "Lilacs"
*Harry Warren (tunes on page)
*Rodney Waschka II
*Eric Whitacre
*John Williams (born 1932), contemporary film score composer ("Star Wars", "Schindler's List")
*Michael Glenn Williams (born 1957), contemporary classical, jazz
*Frank Zappa (1940–1993), composed in a plethora of styles
*Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (born 1939)

References