John Harbison is currently Professor of Music at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a former faculty member of Boston University, Duke University, and Cal Arts. His numerous awards include the Pulitzer Prize (1987), Heinz Award for the Arts and Humanities (1998), The Harvard Arts Medal (2000), American Music Center's Letter of Distinction (2000), the Kennedy Center Friedheim First Prize, and a MacArthur Fellowship (1989). He also holds four honorary doctorates. Mr. Harbison is one of America's most prominent composers. His most recent opera, The Great Gatsby, was commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera and premiered to great acclaim in December of 1999. He has been composer-in-residence with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the American Academy in Rome, as well as for the Tanglewood, Marlboro, and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festivals. As a conductor, Mr. Harbison has led a number of top orchestras and chamber groups, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Boston Symphony, and The Handel and Haydn Society. From 1990 to 1992, he was Creative Chair with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, conducting music from Monteverdi to the present. He was formerly the music director of the Cantata Singers in Boston, and currently is the principal guest conductor of Emmanuel Music, frequently leading performances of Bach Cantatas, 17th-century motets, and new music. Furthering the work of younger composers is one of Mr. Harbison's prime interests, and he continues to verbally convey the multiple meanings of contemporary composition.