Kirke Mechem

Kirke Mechem (born August 16, 1925) is an American composer. His first opera, ''Tartuffe'', with over 450 performances in nine countries, has become one of the most popular operas written by an American. He has composed more than 250 works in almost every form. In 2002, ASCAP registered performances of his music in 42 countries. He has been called the "dean of American choral composers". His memoir, ''Believe Your Ears: Life of a Lyric Composer,'' was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2015; it won ASCAP Foundation's 48th annual Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award for outstanding musical biography. Provided by Wikipedia