Iconic Composers: A Celebration of Music's Extraordinary Composers

Iconic Composers highlights the origin and contributions of some of the world’s most remarkable and gifted composers throughout history. Bold, whimsical illustrations by David Lee Csicsko along with concise, engaging bios by Nicholas Csicsko and Emi Ferguson celebrate a diverse group of composers from the past 1000 years. Iconic Composers features historical giants of music like Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven alongside 20th-century composers such as Astor Piazzolla and Meredith Monk. Showcasing the true range of classical music history not typically acknowledged – exhibiting a wide number of genders, races, and nationalities – Iconic Composers celebrates 50 composers who have influenced the field of music and collectively broadened its scope.

David Lee Csicsko is an award-winning artist and designer whose distinctive artwork, stained glass, and mosaics beautify train stations, hospitals, churches and universities across the Midwest and East Coast. His many credits include designing the Obamas’ White House Christmas in 2012. David’s lively illustrations can also be seen in The Skin You Live In from the Chicago Children’s Museum, now in its 16th printing, as well as in LGBTQ+ Icons and Science People. Through his use of color, bold graphics and playful patterns, David Lee Csicsko celebrates the richness and diversity of life.

Nicholas Csicsko is fascinated by the connection between music, economics, and the world. After receiving a Doctorate of Music in composition from The Juilliard School, Nicholas has gone on to become an institutional investor, managing the endowments for multi-billion dollar non-profit organizations. He continues to lecture and write about the intersection between music and finance and loves to play the piano in his free time.

Emi Ferguson has brought her love of music and performing to audiences around the globe, sharing the stage as a flute player, singer, and composer with performers including Yo-Yo Ma, Paul Simon, James Taylor, and four U.S. Presidents. Emi loves to collaborate with composers to help shape the future of music in addition to looking back to the past, imagining what historical composers might have wanted their music to sound like. Born in Japan and raised in London and Boston, Emi moved to New York City to study at The Juilliard School where she is now a faculty member.

Jamie Bernstein is a writer, broadcaster, and filmmaker, and author of Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein. She travels the world as a concert narrator, and her documentary, Crescendo: The Power of Music, is now available on Netflix. She lives in New York City.