John Corigliano, winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize in Music for his Symphony No. 2, is internationally celebrated as one of the leading composers of his generation. In orchestral, chamber, opera and film work, he has won global acclaim for his highly expressive and compelling compositions as well as his kaleidoscopic, ever-expanding technique.
In 2000, Corigliano won another coveted prize: the "Oscar," the Academy Award, for "The Red Violin," his third film score. He was the second classical composer, after Aaron Copland, to be so honored.
In 1996, the recording of his string quartet, like that of the Symphony No. 1, won Grammy Awards both for Best Performance and again for Best New Composition, making Corigliano the first composer to win twice in the history of that award.
Corigliano attracted unparalleled international attention with the premieres, respectively, of his Symphony No. 1, and his opera The Ghosts of Versailles. In 1991, the Metropolitan Opera unveiled its centennial commission, and its first new opera in 25 years -- Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles. The symphony -- Corigliano's impassioned personal response to the AIDS crisis -- was commissioned and first performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Upon its premiere, it was immediately scheduled by virtually all of the leading orchestras in the country, and later captured for Corigliano music's Nobel Prize -- the 1991 Grawemeyer Award for Best New Orchestral Composition. Chicago's recording of the piece on the Erato label also won two Grammy awards.
Mr. Corigliano was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, an organization of 250 of America's most prominent artists, sculptors, architects, writers, and composers.
