Morten Lauridsen, composer

Born: February 27, 1943, in Colfax, Washington; raised in Portland, Oregon

At the Chorale: Composer-in-Residence, 1994–2001

Currently: Professor of Composition at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music since 1967; Chair of the Composition Department, 1990–2002

Compositions include six vocal cycles — Les Chansons des Roses (Rilke), Mid-Winter Songs (Graves), Cuatro Canciones (Lorca), A Winter Come (Moss), Madrigali: Six “FireSongs” on Renaissance Italian Poems, Lux Aeterna

Sacred a cappella motets — O Magnum Mysterium, Ave Maria, O Nata Lux, Ubi Caritas et Amor, Ave Dulcissima Maria

Praise: “the only American composer in history who can be called a mystic (whose) probing, serene work contains an elusive and indefinable ingredient which leaves the impression that all the questions have been answered... From 1993 Lauridsen’s music rapidly increased in international popularity, and by century’s end he had eclipsed Randall Thompson as the most frequently performed American choral composer.” — Nick Strimple, Choral Music in the Twentieth Century

On disc: Over 100 CDs, including the Grammy-nominated Lauridsen–Lux Aeterna by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, conducted by Paul Salamunovich