Ben Johnston (1926-2019) was an American composer whose works were built on the pure ratios of the overtone series. His awards included a Guggenheim Fellowship, a grant from the National Council on the Arts and the Humanities, two commissions from the Smithsonian Institution, and the Deems Taylor Award. In 2007, the American Academy of Arts and Letters honored Johnston for his lifetime of work. New World Records released many of his works, including the complete cycle of his string quartets.
• Listen/Read NPR's piece on Ben Johnston.
• Read The New York Times' feature on Ben Johnston.