David Lang is the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in Music 2008 for the little match girl passion, commissioned by Carnegie Hall for the vocal ensemble Theatre of Voices, directed by Paul Hillier.

One of America's most performed and honored composers, his recent works include writing on water for the London Sinfonietta, with libretto and visuals by English filmmaker Peter Greenaway; the difficulty of crossing a field – a fully staged opera for the Kronos Quartet; loud love songs, a concerto for the percussionist Evelyn Glennie, and the oratorio Shelter, with co-composers Michael Gordon and Julia Wolfe, at the Next Wave Festival of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, staged by Ridge Theater and featuring the Norwegian vocal ensemble Trio Mediaeval. The commercial recording of the Little Match Girl Passion will be released this June on Harmonia Mundi, coupled with a cappella choral works sung by Ars Nova Copenhagen.

Lang is co-founder and co-artistic director of New York's legendary music festival, Bang on a Can.