In 1970, Wuorinen became the youngest composer to win the Pulitzer Prize in music with Time's Encomium, an electronic composition written on commission from Nonesuch Records. The Pulitzer and the MacArthur Fellowship are just two among many awards, fellowships and other honors to have come his way.

Wuorinen has written more than 200 compositions to date. His newest works include Symphony Seven commissioned by four American orchestras, a trilogy of orchestral scores for the New York City Ballet, a Piano Quintet for Ursula Oppens, and a Percussion Quartet. He is presently at work on an opera based on a novel of Salman Rushdie with the poet James Fenton and the director Mark Lamos.

An indication of Wuorinen's historical importance can be seen in the fact that in 1975 Stravinsky's widow gave Wuorinen the composer's last sketches for use in A Reliquary for Igor Stravinsky. Wuorinen was the first composer commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra under Christoph von Dohnanyi (Movers and Shakers); and likewise the first to compose for Michael Tilson Thomas' New World Symphony (Bamboula Beach). Fractal geometry and the pioneering work of Benoit Mandelbrot have played a crucial role in several of his works including Bamboula Squared and the Natural Fantasy, a work for organ.

His works have been recorded on nearly a dozen labels including a brand new recording for Koch International Classics which includes the Piano Quintet, The Mission of Virgil and Percussion Quartet. Other recent recordings include A Reliquary for Igor Stravinsky (Deutsche Grammophon), Genesis for chorus and orchestra and Mass (Koch International Classics), a solo disc with pianist Alan Feinberg performing the Third Piano Sonata, Capriccio and Bagatelle (nominated for a Grammy Award).

Wuorinen's works are published exclusively by C.F. Peters Corporation. He is the author of Simple Composition, used by composition students throughout the world (recently translated into Chinese).

His newest works include Symphony Seven, commissioned by four American orchestras, and a trilogy of orchestral scores for the New York City Ballet. He is presently at work on an opera based on a novel by Salman Rushdie.

An eloquent writer and speaker, Wuorinen has lectured at universities throughout the United States and abroad, and has served on the faculties of Columbia, Princeton, and Yale Universities, the University of Iowa, University of California (San Diego), Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory, State University of New York at Buffalo, and is presently Professor of Composition at Rutgers University.

Wuorinen has also been active as performer, an excellent pianist and a distinguished conductor of his own works as well as other twentieth century repertoire. His orchestral appearances have included the Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the American Composers Orchestra.

In 1962 he co-founded The Group for Contemporary Music, one of America's most prestigious ensembles dedicated to performance of new chamber music. In addition to cultivating a new generation of performers, commissioning and premiering hundreds of new works, the Group has been a model for many similar organizations which have appeared in the United States since its founding.

Wuorinen is a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.