Lewis Spratlan

Who is Lewis Spratlan?

M. Lewis Spratlan Jr. 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.

The winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2000 for a concert version of Act 2 of his 3-act opera Life is a Dream, Spratlan had begun the opera in 1975 and completed it in 1978, originally as a commission from the New Haven Opera. By the time Spratlan had finished the work, the New Haven Opera had ceased to exist and the opera was not staged.

Act 2 of the opera received its first full performance at Amherst College in January 2000, and subsequently at Harvard University.