John Corigliano, born in New York, is a gay American composer. His major works include the opera The Ghosts of Versailles (which won the 1991 Grawemeyer Award, music's Nobel Prize) and Symphony No. 1 ("Corigliano's impassioned personal response to the AIDS crisis" won two Grammy Awards).

Corigliano has also written for film (he received an Academy Award nomination for Altered States), and has created many commissioned works. He is a member of the faculty at the Juilliard School of Music. He won an Oscar for the original score of the movie The Red Violin.