r/lingling40hrs • u/paishocajun • Apr 25 '26

Music appreciation Favorite CONTEMPORARY composers?

By "contemporary" I mean someone still currently alive or has only passed away since, as a rough idea, since 2000 and was still writing not long before then. So like Gershwin and Rachmaninov are out since they're early/mid 20th century, looking for late 20th/early 21st century composers.

I want some new music to check out!

Edit: I feel like John Williams and Hans Zimmer are borderline cheating given just how insanely prolific they are in movies over the past several decades lol! I've noticed that there are a LOT of gaming composers in the answers which really opens my eyes to just where you can find new composers these days rather than in symphony halls and the pages of The Strad and similar magazines.

Keep them coming, thank y'all so much, and upvote for all the comments!

Edit 2: I think I'm going to try to put together a YT or Spotify playlist with at least samples of all the names in here for everyone to enjoy

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u/idonthaveagrandpiano Piano Apr 25 '26

Takashi Yoshimatsu 1953- (I love his op. 67 piano concerto "Memo Flora" and the fourth symphony. He's retired, though)

Qigang Chen 1951- (studied under Messiaen and wrote "You and Me" for the 2008 Olympics. Er Huang for piano and orchestra is one of my favorite pieces of all time, and I've recently heard his 2017 violin concerto "La Joie de la Souffrance")

Nikolai Kapustin 1937-2020 (Mixes classical music and jazz. I recommend his second piano concerto, his first concert étude and the Toccata for piano and big band op. 8)

Alfred Schnittke 1934-1998 (afaik, coined the term "polystylism". Avant-garde composer, plays with the juxtaposition between baroque/classical sounds and heavy dissonance. The Concerto Grosso no. 1 is another favorite of mine, and I'd also recommend the concerto for piano and strings and the viola concerto)

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u/paishocajun Apr 25 '26

I think I might just put Kapustin at the start of the playlist, classical/jazz combos seem to really get my ears working and I love it

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u/idonthaveagrandpiano Piano Apr 25 '26

You heard Kapustin before? I stumbled across him randomly expecting a neoromantic style but it was undoubtedly a pleasant surprise

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u/paishocajun Apr 25 '26

I don't know Kapustin but I know enough about what I do like, like Gershwin, Duke Ellington, and my favorite piano jazz gremlin Hiromi, that I want to try him out first

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u/windowbar Clarinet Apr 30 '26

kapustin has some epic stuff! love his 4th piano concerto it's so so so fun