Nathaniel Stookey was born in San Francisco and he was just 17 years old when the city's Symphony Orchestra commissioned him to write a new work for them. He has collaborated with many of the world's great orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Los Angeles Philharmonic and so on. In 2006, The San Francisco Symphony commissioned, premiered, and recorded The Composer Is Dead. It has been performed by hundreds of orchestras worldwide and cited as one of the five most performed works of the 21st century.