Lewis Spratlan

M. Lewis Spratlan Jr. (born September 5, 1940) is an American music academic and composer of contemporary classical music. Born in Miami, Florida, Spratlan played the oboe as a youth. He attended Yale University and was a student of Mel Powell and Gunther Schuller. He was also a member of The Spizzwinks(?) at Yale. Spratlan joined the faculty of Amherst College in 1970, and later held the Peter R. Pouncey chair in music. He retired in 2006 and now holds the title of Peter R. Pouncey Professor of Music, Emeritus, at Amherst. He also conducted the Amherst College Orchestra for several years. Spratlan won the Pulitzer Prize in Music in 2000 for a concert performance of Act II of his 3-act opera Life is a Dream, which he began in 1975 and...