Bernard Rands

Bernard Rands (2 March 1934 – 4 March 2026) was a British and American contemporary classical composer and professor. He composed orchestral works and chamber music, often with a vocal element, and a series of Memos for solo instruments. His Canti del Sole for tenor and orchestra received the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1984. He taught at Harvard University from 1988 to 2005. Life and career Rands was born on 2 March 1934. He studied music and English literature at the University of Wales, Bangor, and composition with Pierre Boulez and Bruno Maderna at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse, and with Luigi Dallapiccola and Luciano Berio in Milan. He taught at the University of California, San Diego, the Juilliard School, Yale University, and Boston University. Rands was married to American composer Augusta Read Thomas. Works Rands’s music was published by Schott. The publisher maintains works and their performances on its website. Opera *Belladonna (1999) *:opera in two acts, with a libretto by Leslie Dunton Downer, commissioned by the Aspen Festival. Première: 1999, Aspen Music Festival, Colorado *Vincent (c. 1973–2010) *:opera based on the life of Vincent van Gogh, with libretto by J. D. Mc