Living composers kids can hear today: ten to know

Classical music is still being written. Composers are at work today on film scores, concert pieces, operas, and music for choirs, and orchestras play new pieces every season. This list has ten living composers, in order of birth, with one piece for a child to hear for each. Start with Steve Reich’s “Clapping Music,” which needs no instrument at all.

This page was checked in November 2026.

Ten living composers

1. John Williams (born 1932, United States)

Williams wrote the music for Star Wars, Jaws, E.T., and the first Harry Potter films. He was still composing in his nineties. Read John Williams for kids.

Hear: “Hedwig’s Theme.”

2. Arvo Pärt (born 1935, Estonia)

Pärt writes slow, quiet music with few notes. He calls his style “tintinnabuli,” from the Latin word for little bells. A yearly count of concerts around the world named him the most performed living composer of 2025.

Hear: “Spiegel im Spiegel.” The title means “mirror in the mirror.” A piano plays three rising notes at a time while a violin or a cello holds long, calm tones.

3. Steve Reich (born 1936, United States)

Reich builds music from short patterns that repeat and shift. He turned 90 in October 2026 and was still writing new pieces.

Hear: “Clapping Music.” Two people clap the same rhythm. One of them moves the pattern over by one beat, again and again, until the two line up once more.

4. Philip Glass (born 1937, United States)

Glass writes operas, symphonies, piano pieces, and film scores made of rippling patterns that change a little at a time. He drove a taxi and worked as a plumber to pay his bills until he was past 40.

Hear: “Opening” from Glassworks. Two rhythms run at once in the pianist’s two hands.

5. John Adams (born 1947, United States)

Adams writes for large orchestra with driving rhythm and bright brass. He also conducts.

Hear: “Short Ride in a Fast Machine.” A woodblock ticks all the way through while the orchestra races around it. It lasts four minutes.

6. Joe Hisaishi (born 1950, Japan)

Hisaishi has written the music for the animated films of Hayao Miyazaki since the 1980s, among them My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away. He tours the world conducting orchestras in his own music.

Hear: “One Summer’s Day” from Spirited Away, for piano and orchestra.

7. Jennifer Higdon (born 1962, United States)

Higdon taught herself the flute at 15 and did not begin to compose until she was 21. She went on to win a Pulitzer Prize.

Hear: “blue cathedral.” Listen for the flute and the clarinet in conversation, and for the soft chiming at the end.

8. Max Richter (born 1966, Germany, raised in England)

Richter mixes orchestra instruments with electronics. In 2012, he took Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons apart and rebuilt it as a new piece.

Hear: “Spring 1” from Recomposed: Vivaldi, The Four Seasons. Then play Vivaldi’s own “Spring” and compare. See the Four Seasons listening guide.

9. Jessie Montgomery (born 1981, United States)

Montgomery is a violinist and composer from New York. Orchestras across the United States play her music. She also appears in Black composers for kids.

Hear: “Starburst.” Three and a half minutes of fast, bright music for strings.

10. Caroline Shaw (born 1982, United States)

Shaw is a singer, violinist, and composer. At 30, she became the youngest person to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Hear: The first movement of Partita for 8 Voices. Eight singers speak, whisper, sigh, hum, and sing.

How new music differs from old

Patterns. Reich, Glass, and Adams build long pieces from short figures that repeat and change a little at a time. This style is called minimalism.

New sounds. Composers today add electronics, spoken words, and unusual ways of playing old instruments.

Film and games. Many people hear new orchestra music first in a film, a television series, or a video game.

Many voices. Composers today come from every part of the world, and more of them are women than in past centuries.

Things to do together

Clap the piece. Learn the rhythm of “Clapping Music” from a video. Clap it together. Then one person tries to shift it by one beat.

Old and new. Play Vivaldi’s “Spring,” then Richter’s version. Ask what Richter kept and what he changed.

Tap the woodblock. Play “Short Ride in a Fast Machine.” Tap two pencils together with the woodblock for all four minutes. It is harder than it sounds.

Draw the mirror. Play “Spiegel im Spiegel.” Draw one slow line for the long notes and small steps for the piano.

Voice sounds. After Shaw’s Partita, list every sound a voice can make besides singing. Make a short piece with them.

Write to a composer. Many living composers have websites. An older child can write a short note about a piece they liked.

Go and hear something new

Look at your local orchestra’s season for the words “premiere” or “commission.” These mark a piece that is new. Tell your child that they will be among the first people in the world to hear it.

Sources

• Arvo Pärt Centre (2026). News item on the most performed living composers of 2025.
• Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (2026). Joe Hisaishi’s World Dream Tour.

Print and play

Fill in a composer study notebook page for one living composer. For the hundred years before them, read modern classical music for kids. For more names, see women composers for kids and American composers for kids.

For more composers by era, see classical composers for kids.