Ken Radnofsky was born in Bryn Mawr, PA. His earliest musical memories were of his mother playing the organ and of his father singing as unofficial cantorial soloist at Temple Shalom in Broomall, PA.[2] A move to Texas at the beginning of NASA's space program, where his father was head of crew systems division,[3] brought him to Texas' music education system.
Radnofsky was inspired by many teachers, including Duncan Hale, David Salge, Harvey Pittel, Joe McMullen, Terry Anderson and Jeffrey Lerner.
Radnofsky completed his Master of Music degree at New England Conservatory, where he studied with Joseph Allard and worked closely with Gunther Schuller.
He also recorded 'A Place in the Sun' with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra under John Mauceri, and Debussy Saxophone Rhapsody with New York Philharmonic under Kurt Masur.
[9] The composers he has commissioned for new works include Gunther Schuller,[10] Alan Hovhaness, Yang Yong, David Amram, Michael Colgrass,[11] John McDonald, Michael Gandolfi,[12] Armand Qualliotine, Jaime Fatas, Pasquale Tassone, Shih-Hui Chen, Andy Vores, Lei Liang, Jakov Jakoulov, Donald Martino, Elliott Schwartz, Chris Theofanidis, Larry Bell, Milton Babbitt, Ezra Sims, Roger Bourland, Michael Horvit, Allen Johnson, Vincent Plush, Georgy Dmitriev, and John Harbison.