A prolific composer by the age of fifteen, Thomas Pasatieri studied with Nadia Boulanger before receiving a scholarship to the Juilliard School at the age of sixteen. His composition teachers there included Vittorio Giannini and Vincent Persichetti. At nineteen he received the first doctorate awarded by Juilliard. He also studied with Darius Milhaud at Aspen where, when he was nineteen, his chamber opera The Women won the Aspen Festival prize. Other honours include the Richard Rodgers Scholarship, the Marion Freschl Prize, the Irving Berlin Fellowship, and an Emmy Award.

Pasatieri has composed more than 400 songs, many with chamber ensemble accompaniment. His songs and operas have been performed by such artists as Janet Baker, Frederica von Stade, Shirley Verrett, Catherine Malfitano, Evelyn Lear, James Morris, Thomas Stewart, and the late Jennie Tourel. Highly emotional characters in powerfully dramatic situations are characteristic of many of Pasatieri’s operas, including his most successful work, The Seagull, based on the Chekhov play, and The Trial of Mary most successful work, The Seagull, based on the Chekhov play, and The Trial of Mary Lincoln, written for television. His many film orchestrations include Road to Perdition, Finding Nemo, and Angels in America. Thomas Pasatieri is a member of Music of Remembrance’s Advisory Board.