The newly-promoted Harsh came to Meet the Composer in 2005 as Vice President after having served as a consultant to the organization. Among the positions he has held previously are Managing Director of the contemporary music ensemble Sequitur, Director of Development for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Managing Editor of the Kurt Weill Edition. A trained composer and musicologist with degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and Columbia and Yale Universities, Harsh has composed works on commission for, among others, the Albany and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, the New Millennium Ensemble and American Baroque.

Founded in 1974, Meet the Composer is (in addition to its promotion and advocacy work) one of the most active commissioning organizations in the U.S., responsible for more than 1,300 new works of music so far.