John Harris Harbison (born December 20, 1938) is an American composer, known for his symphonies, operas, and large choral works.
John Harris Harbison was born on December 20, 1938, in Orange, New Jersey, to the historian Elmore Harris Harbison and Janet German Harbison. The Harbisons were a musical family; Elmore had studied composition in his youth and Janet wrote songs.[1] Harbison's sisters Helen and Margaret were musicians as well. He won the prestigious BMI Foundation's Student Composer Awards for composition at the age of sixteen in 1954. He studied music at Harvard University (BA 1960), where he sang with the Harvard Glee Club, and later at the Berlin Musikhochschule and at Princeton (MFA 1963). He is an Institute Professor of music at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a former student of Walter Piston and Roger Sessions. His works include several symphonies, string quartets, and concerti for violin, viola, and bass viol (double bass).
He won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1987 for The Flight into Egypt, and in 1989 he received a $305,000 MacArthur Fellowship.[2] In 1998 he was awarded the 4th Annual Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities.[3] In 2006 a recording of his Mottetti di Montale was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Small Ensemble Performance category.
The Metropolitan Opera commissioned Harbison's The Great Gatsby to celebrate James Levine's 25th anniversary with the company. The opera premiered on December 20, 1999, conducted by Levine and starring Jerry Hadley, Dawn Upshaw, Susan Graham, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Mark Baker, Dwayne Croft, and Richard Paul Fink.
Harbison was jointly commissioned by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity and the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue to write a piece for the Papal Concert of Reconciliation. The event was co-officiated by the Chief Rabbi of Rome, RavElioToaff, the Imam of the Mosque of Rome, Abdulawahab Hussein Gomaa, and Pope John Paul II. Abraham, a six-minute composition for brass and antiphonal choirs, had its world premiere on January 17, 2004, performed by members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and a choir made up of members of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, the London Philharmonic Choir, the Krakow Philharmonic Choir, and the Ankara Polyphonic Choir, under the baton of Sir Gilbert Levine.
Harbison was previously the principal guest conductor for Emmanuel Music in Boston; after founding director Craig Smith's untimely death in 2007, Harbison was named Acting Artistic Director.
When asked in 1990 for his artistic credo Harbison replied to make each piece different from the others, to find clear, fresh large designs, to reinvent traditions.
He is married to violinist Rose Mary Harbison (née Pederson).

Discography (Incomplete)  
MirabaiSongs  Variations (1987). Northeastern Records NR 230-CD. Performed by Janice Felty, mezzo-soprano, Collage New Music Ensemble, conducted by John Harbison — Rose Mary Harbison, violin; David Satz, clarinet; Ursula Oppens, piano. Tracks 1-6 Mirabai Songs, text from Mirabai Versions by Robert Bly.Tracks 7-10 Variations, for violin, clarinet, and piano. Track Listing
I. It's True, I Went to the Market
II. All I Was Doing Was Breathing
III. Why Mira Can't Go Back to Her Old House
IV. Where Did You Go
V. The Clouds
VI. Don't Go, Don't Go
Variations i-v
Variations vi-x
Variations xi-xv
Finale and Epilogue
The Flight into Egypt and other works by John Harbison (1990). New World Records 80395-2. Performed by The Cantata Singers and Ensemble, The Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, and The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.Conducted by David Hoose, John Harbison, and Andre Previn. Tracks
The Flight into Egypt, text from the King James translation of the story of the Flight into Egypt in the Gospel of Matthew
The Natural World Prelude
Where We Must Look for Help, text from Robert Bly
On the Road Home, text from Wallace Stevens
Milkweed, text from James Wright
Concerto for Double Brass Choir and Orchestra I. Invention on a Motif Tempo giusto
II. Invention on a Chord Cantabile
III. Invention on a Cadence Molto allegro
At First Light (1998). Archetype Records 60106.Performed by Lorraine Hunt, mezzo-soprano, Dawn Upshaw, soprano, Greenleaf Chamber Players, and Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Scott Yoo. Tracks
Due LibrideiMottetti di Montale
Snow Country
Chorale Cantata
Concerto for Oboe, Clarinet, and Strings
John Harbison Ulysses' Bow  Samuel Chapter (2004). First Edition ASIN B0002RQ35C. Tracks
Ulysses' Bow ballet performed by Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Andre Previn
Samuel Chapter performed by Susan Larson (soprano) and conducted by John Harbison
The Reawakening, String Quartet No. 3, Fantasia on a Ground, Thanks Victor (2001).Musica Omnia om0110.Lydian String Quartet, Dominique Labelle, soprano.
World Premiere Recordings Violin Concerto, Recordare, Seven Motets (1997). Koch 3-7310-2-H1.Emmanuel Music, Craig Smith, conductor, Rose-Mary Harbison, violin.
Sessions Symphony No. 2; Harbison Symphony No. 2, Oboe Concerto (1994).london 443 376-2. San Francisco Symphony, Herbert Bloomstedt, conductor, William Bennet, oboe.
String Quartet No.1String Quartet No. 2November 19, 1828 (1992).Lydian String Quartet, YehudiWyner, piano.
Simple DaylightWords from PattersonPiano Quintet, (1999).Electra Nonesuch 79189-2.Boston Symphony Chamber Players, Gilbert Kalish, piano, Sanford Sylvan, baritone, Dawn Upshaw, soprano.
Four PsalmsEmerson (2004). New World Records 80613-2. Cantata Singers and Ensemble, David Hoose, conductor.
Mottetti di Montale (2005). Koch KIC-CD-7545. Collage New Music, David Hoose, music director, Janice Felty and Margaret Lattimore mezzo-sopranos.