Michael Alec Rose is a composer and author whose work ranges from chamber and orchestral music to vocal music, ballet and opera. Born in Philadelphia in 1959, he studied at the University of Pennsylvania with George Crumb, George Rochberg and Richard Wernick, then completed his doctorate at the Eastman School of Music. His Second String Quartet was commissioned for the Meliora Quartet by the Naumburg Foundation. At Vanderbilt University, Rose has taught composition and collaborated extensively with violinist Peter Sheppard Skærved. Their projects included an exchange between Vanderbilt and London’s Royal Academy of Music. His stage works include the opera Lolly Willowes and the ballet A Million Alien Gospels. His book Audible Signs examines ways of listening closely to music.