Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Robert Ward has died at the age of 95.

The musician passed away on Wednesday (03Apr13) at his home in Durham, North Carolina.

Ward was a distinguished composer who worked on operas such as He Who Gets Slapped, The Lady From Colorado and Claudia Legare, but he will perhaps be best remembered for writing an opera version of Arthur Miller's 1953 play The Crucible for the New York City Opera.

The show, which premiered in 1961, won him the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Music and remains one of the most performed operas by an American composer.