Ned Rorem

• "The world's best composer of art songs" —Time Magazine
• Received the Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for his orchestral suite Air Music
• Had championed tonality throughout his career in his lyrical yet forthright music
• His output spanned nearly every musical medium, plus sixteen books
• Recent chamber works have been toured or recorded by the Guarneri String Quartet, the Emerson String Quartet and the Beaux Arts Trio, among others
• Vocal works have been performed and recorded by leading artists including Susan Graham, Brian Azawa, Judy Collins, and Carole Farley

Works by Ned Rorem include:
Lions (A Dream) (1963) for jazz group and orchestra
Concerto for English Horn and Orchestra (1993)
String Quartet No.4 (1995)
Our Town (2005) Opera

> Explore Ned Rorem and his music in our comprehensive brochure.

Looking Ahead: Ned Rorem’s centennial takes place on October 23, 2023. The Pulitzer Prize–winning composer, who passed away last November, is saluted by the Curtis Institute of Music (where he served on the composition faculty from 1980 to 2001) with multiple performances of his music, including a special Rorem tribute concert (date to be announced). The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum also marks Rorem’s 100th birthday with a presentation of his magnum opus Evidence of Things Not Seen—an evening-length cycle of 36 songs for four voices and piano—to be performed by singers from the Victory Hall Opera (Oct 1).

"I conceive all music…vocally. Whatever my music is written for—tuba, tambourine, tubular bells—it is always the singer within me crying to get out." — Ned Rorem