Harold Meltzer is inspired by a wide variety of stimuli, from architectural spaces to postmodern fairy tales and messages inscribed in fortune cookies. In Fanfare, Robert Carl commented that he “seems to write pieces of scrupulous craft and exceptional freshness, which makes each seem like an important contribution.” The first recording devoted to his music, released in 2010 by Naxos on its American Classics label, was named among the CDs of the year in the New York Times. A Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2009 for his sextet Brion, Harold’s awards include the Rome Prize, the Barlow Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Born in Brooklyn and living in the East Village, he was the founder and co-director for fifteen years of the new music ensemble Sequitur. He has taught at Amherst and Vassar.