Contemporary Classical Musicians
 

I'm a big Philip Glass and Nicolas Frahm fan. Anyone else a fan of contemporary classical and which artists?

Oh yes, I'm actually a true fan of Nils Frahm, maybe because he's got that jazz and electronica sound combined with the classical.
Philip Glass is a pure mastermind, just like Ludovico Einaudi. Despite of their age they're working hard on creating new music.
Moreover Ólafur Arnalds and Helen Jane Long are pretty inspiring, and one of the best contemporary classical composers.

By the way, Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm have worked together. I think those two complement each other.
The result is amazing, it's worth a listen.

Brian Ferneyhough and James Dillon. I like their feeling of organised chaos!

Two of my all-time favourites of any genre, G.F. Hass, and Tristan Murail. I love Spectral Music, it is simply gorgeous!

I have a deep love for Arvo Pärt.

How about Brian Ferneyhough?

I like John Adams' compositions- he makes modernism accessible, even catchy, without being coarse or over simple. Unlike most modern music he has real passion and feeling, sometimes rising to epic proportions. His music is advanced enough to be innovative and original, but familiar enough to be enjoyable and satisfying.

My introduction to classical was the influence it had on works like Popol Vuh's Hosianna Mantra and on Klaus Schulze of the Berlin School of ambient music. I am also a tremendous fan of post-war minimalism like Riley, Steve Reich, Glass and Moondog's 1969 self-titled LP.

But in the sphere of modern classical, those works led me to Ólafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm, and Ryuichi Sakamoto's ambient compositions, as well as the similar works by A Winged Victory for the Sullen, Dustin O'Halloran, Stars of the Lid, The Dead Texan, Labradford, Bedhead, Clint Mansell, and select works by Cinematic Orchestra.

Most of these occupy the territory of ambient music but the element of modern classicism cannot be denied.

I'd love to hear more composers like these.

I like your qualifying of TCO, haha. A friend of mine introduced me to them in high school via Ma Fleur, and I dug into the rest of their discog thinking I'd find more stuff like it. It worked out though, 'cause it turned out I like downtempo too. I think they were actually my gateway to Ninja Tune.

My answer to the OP question really depends on your definition of "contemporary," as the majority of composers I listen to are post-Stravinsky, but probably a good half of them are pre-WWII. The two post-war pieces I've probably been into the most lately are Kirchner's Piano Trio and Reich's The Desert Music.

I'm going to interpret the word "contemporary" as anything around World War II to the present day, since you're bringing up Phillip Glass, who is 78 at the time that I am writing this.

I'm with Zack. Spectralism is a marvelous movement. I particularly enjoy Gérard Grisey's "Vortex Temporum" and Tristan Murail's "Gondwana". I am a sucker for expansive music. Even though "Gondwana" is comparatively short, the title is evocative and the processes are beautiful (FFT FTW). Horațiu Rădulescu's music is crazy stuff. "Inner Time II" captivates me. "Clepsydra" is just nuts from a logistical standpoint, and the sounds are beautiful (the orchestration is 16 "sound icons," which are pianos that are flipped so that the performer can bow the strings). "Byzantine Prayer" is another one of those that is full of cool sounds (40 flautists playing 72 flutes).

Going back to the mid-twentieth century, I like Olivier Messiaen's "Quatuor pour la fin du temps" and Béla Bartók's "Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta" as well as the string quartets (4 and 5 especially). Meesa likey George Crumb. "Vox Balaenae" and "Echoes of Time and the River (Echoes II)".

Henryk Górecki's 2nd and 3rd symphonies are massive and reflect some very deep parts of humanity. I find his works moving, if difficult to sit through. (The last, what, six minutes of the third symphony is an A chord? Enough already!) On that note, most of the big names that came out of the Polish Renaissance are fantastic. Penderecki's "The Dream of Jacob" is awesome, "Polymorphia" is hilarious (or at least I hear it as such). Witold Lutosławski's "Jeux vénitiens" and the cello concerto... stunning.

I've always liked Milton Babbitt's sense of humor and unrelenting attitude. I can't link it (post count too low), but Bad Plus did an arrangement of Babbitt's "Semi-Simple Variations". There's a music video on Youtube of them playing it while three girls dance to it. I think the composer would have approved. Babbitt's essays are a hoot, if you ever get a chance to read them. I wish I had one iota of that man's ability to articulate.

As for composers who are active right now and doing their thing, Brendan Faegre's "Four Koans" has been an inspiration to me since I heard it. I can't decide if I like Mauro Lanza's output or not.

Knock knock
Who's there?
Philip Glass
Philip Glass who?
Knock knock
Who's there?
Philip Glass
Philip Glass who?
Knock knock
Who's there?
Philip Glass
Philip Glass who?
Knock knock
Who's there?
Philip Glass
Philip Glass who?
Knock knock
Who's there?
Philip Glass
Philip Glass who?
etc.

I don't listen to much modern music, but I ocassionally listen to Bartók, Penderecki, Ligeti and Shostakovich. About 90% of that is Shostakovich. :D I also have Britten's War Requiem and some stuff by Hindemith gathering dust somewhere in my collection.

Glass is really nice, but somehow I only ever listened to him playing Civ IV.

I think the composer you're thinking of that had pieces on Civ IV was Adams. The entire soundtrack for the Modern Era featured his works.

I'm pretty sure there was an instrumental piece of Philip Glass. But I would have to reinstall and browse the music folder do confirm. I'm not talking about the Nixon in China excerpt.

Edit: Nevermind, you're right, not sure why I thought otherwise.

I'm mostly confident on that because it was the game that introduced me to my favorite Adams piece, Harmonielehre.

The Piano Guys
 

I think that the Piano Guys take a really interesting spin on classical music, and I appreciate the talent that they have to combine classical style with contemporary songs such as "Let it Go," "Just the Way You Are," "What Makes You Beautiful," and lots more. They are so great!

Check out Project Fusion Saxophone Quartet!!