Aaron Jay Kernis (born January 15, 1960) is a Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy Award-winning American composer serving as a member of the Yale School of Music faculty.
He studied composition with John Adams at the San Francisco Conservatory; Charles Wuorinen at the Manhattan School of Music; and Morton Subotnick, Bernard Rands, and Jacob Druckman at Yale University.
His wide range of teachers and time spent on both the east and west coasts helps to define his eclectic musical style that blends minimalism with post-Romanticism.
[1] Aaron Kernis found immediate success as a composer when his work Dream of the Morning Sky was premiered in 1983 by the New York Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta conducting.
In an open rehearsal, in front of an audience, Zubin Mehta stopped the orchestra to complain loudly about the vagueness of the score.
His key orchestral works include Musica Celestis, New Era Dance, Lament and Prayer, Newly Drawn Sky, and Colored Field.
There have been many comparisons drawn to Leonard Bernstein, Gustav Mahler, and Igor Stravinsky due to their rhythmic drive and timbral exploration.
[4] New York Philharmonic cellist Carter Brey says that Kernis is "not afraid to take chances and that there is a lot of passion in his writing".
Music critic Benjamin Ivry feels that Kernis's success comes from a varied, ambitious style that is enjoyable to listen to.
[8] Kernis often finds a way to blend his trademark creativity with the visual image or idea to create a piece that the audience can connect with emotionally.
He also was awarded the 2012 Nemmers Prize in Music Composition, which allowed him to spend 2013–15 in residence at Northwestern University,[12] and in 2014, he was named composer-in-residence for the 2014–2015 year at Mannes College.