List of contemporary composers
- •
Name
Birth
Death
Nationality
Representative Pieces
Adams, John
ML410 .A233
1947
American
Short Ride in a Fast Machine (orchestra)
Phyrgian Gates (piano solo)
Argento, Dominick
1927
American
Evensong (soprano, choir, & orchestra)
Postcard from Morocco (opera)
Berio, Luciano
1925
2003
Italian
Visage (tape)
Sequenza IV (piano)
Sequenza VIII (violin)
Birtwistle, Harrison
1934
British
Gawain's Journey (orchestra)
Bolcom, William
1938
American
Chen, Yi
1953
Chinese
Colgrass, Michael
1932
American / Canadian
Urban Requiem (4 saxophones & wind ensemble)
Corigliano, John
1938
American
T
- •
24 Famous Classical Music Composers of the Contemporary Age
The Contemporary Age has blessed us with classical music from highly talented and extraordinary artists. This article lists 24 of the most famous contemporary classical music artists and composers as per our analysis and decision to include further renowned artists for their contributions and accomplishments.
Contemporary classical music composers: who counts as famous?
When discussing famous classical music composers, people usually mention historically renowned artists like Mozart, Bach, or Beethoven. This is because classical music is often associated with the past and traditionalism. Nevertheless, thanks to the work of contemporary artists, the genre remains relevant and continues to thrive in the modern day and age.
But who are the most famous classical music composers of the contemporary age (1945 to today), and how do we decide who counts as renowned? To answer this challenging question, we first analyzed over twenty articles and noted the names of those artists mentioned the most. We then conducted fu
- •
Contemporary classical music
Post-1945 period in classical music
"Contemporary art music" redirects here. For other forms of contemporary music, see Popular music.
Contemporary classical music is Western art music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included serial music, electronic music, experimental music, and minimalist music. Newer forms of music include spectral music and post-minimalism.
History
Background
Main article: 20th-century classical music
At the beginning of the 20th century, composers of classical music were experimenting with an increasingly dissonant pitch language, which sometimes yielded atonal pieces. Following World War I, as a backlash against what they saw as the increasingly exaggerated gestures and formlessness of late Romanticism, certain composers adopted a neoclassic style, which sought to recapture the balanced forms and clearly perceptible thematic processes of earlier styles
Copyright ©cakestot.pages.dev 2025