Prizes, Awards, and Commissions
Aaron Jay Kernis is one of the most successful composers of his generation, reflected in the many accolades that he has received. He has been honored by ASCAP, BMI, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the New York Foundation of Arts. In 1984 he won the Rome Prize, which enabled him to study in Europe. Kernis received an exclusive five-year recording contract with Argo Records in 1996. In 1998 he became the youngest composer to ever win the Pulitzer Prize for his String Quartet No. 2. Then, in 2002 he because the youngest person to win the prestigious Grawemeyer Award for Colored Field. Kernis was also commissioned by Disney for his choral symphony Garden of Light for their millennium celebration. Most recently he was awarded the 2012 Nemmers Prize in Music Composition, which will allow him to spend 2013-15 in residence at Northwestern University.
Kernis has received commissions from leading ensembles and soloists in the world. His works have been premiered by the New York Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Renée Fleming, and Joshua Bell among others. He spent two years as composer-in-residence with Astral Artists in Philadelphia. Kernis also wrote Color Wheel in 2001 for the opening of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Kimmel Center.
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