Bio

Harold Meltzer (1966-2024) was inspired by a wide variety of stimuli, from architectural spaces to postmodern fairy tales and messages inscribed in fortune cookies. In Fanfare Magazine, Robert Carl commented that he “seems to write pieces of scrupulous craft and exceptional freshness, which makes each seem like an important contribution.” The first recording devoted to his music, released in 2010 on Naxos, was named one of the CDs of the year in The New York Times; the third recording—Songs and Structures, released in November 2018 on Bridge Records, made The New York Times list of the top 25 tracks of the year and in voix des arts was named the best contemporary music recording of 2018. And the second recording, released late in 2017 on Open G Records, elicited the most praise: an “enchanting and unpredictable release” (San Francisco Chronicle); “thrives on ample invention and an astute sense of color (The Wall Street Journal); “summoning up sounds from his ensemble that seem nearly impossible” (American Record Guide); “a composer fully in charge of his powers, and in his prime” (Fanfare Magazine).

A Pulitzer Prize Finalist in 2009 for his sextet Brion, Harold was awarded the Rome Prize, the Barlow Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and both the Arts and Letters Award in Music and the Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Late-in-life commissions included those by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Fromm and Koussevitzky Music Foundations, New Music USA, the Library of Congress, Boston Chamber Music Society, Concert Artists Guild, the ASCAP Foundation for the New York Festival of Song, and the Brooklyn Art Song Society. He was the founder and co-director for fifteen years of the new music ensemble Sequitur.

Harold Meltzer died in Manhattan on August 12, 2024, at the age of 58.

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Shorter Bio

Harold Meltzer (1966-2024) was inspired by a wide variety of stimuli, from architectural spaces to postmodern fairy tales and messages inscribed in fortune cookies. In Fanfare Magazine, Robert Carl commented that he “seems to write pieces of scrupulous craft and exceptional freshness, which makes each seem like an important contribution.” The first recording devoted to his music, released in 2010 by Naxos on its American Classics label, was named one of the CDs of the year in The New York Times. In December 2017, Open G Records released a second recording of Harold’s music, and in November 2018, Bridge Records released a third. A Pulitzer Prize Finalist in 2009 for his sextet Brion, Meltzer was awarded the Rome Prize, the Barlow Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and both the Arts and Letters Award in Music and the Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He received commissions from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the Fromm and Koussevitzky Music Foundations. Harold Meltzer died on August 12, 2024, at the age of 58.

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