Harold Fortuin (born in Mt. Clemens, Mich., USA) studied composition primarily with Lettie Alston, James Hartway, Michael Czajkowski, Jere Hutcheson, Mark Sullivan, and Graham Hair. However, his music has more obvious influences from Ruth Crawford, Conlon Nancarrow, and Ornette Coleman, and his works have been admired by recent composers as diverse as Iannis Xenakis, György Ligeti, and Jacob Druckman. He has degrees from the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto, Wayne State University, and Michigan State University, where he was a Dean's Recruitment Fellow while earning his M.Mus. and Ph.D. While on fellowship he taught composition at Olivet College, and composition, music theory, and electronic and computer music at Michigan State University.

From 1991-93 he was at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, where he held a lectureship in composition, jazz history, and music technology and an Overseas Research Student award from the British government. He spent 1993-94 developing the hardware and software for his Clavette microtonal keyboard controller at the Institute of Sonology in The Hague, Netherlands. From 1994 - 2001, he worked in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area as a composer, performer, sound designer, arranger, and software developer. In 2001 he married biostatistician Ruifeng Li and moved to Boston, Mass., USA where he continues these activities.

His works encompass electronic and computer music, instrumental and vocal chamber music, orchestral work, film music, music for dance, and music theater. Performances include those at the CalArts New Music festival, the American Music Week in Bonn, Germany, and at ICMA, ISEA, SEAMUS, and SCI conferences. His music has also been broadcast nationally in the USA on the Difficult Listening Hour; in Moscow, Russia on Tangerine Wave; and on numerous local North American radio programs. A number of them are recorded, published, or reviewed. His biography appears in several references.

In 1997 he donated a Scalatron and another microtonal electronic keyboard to the Schubert Club in St. Paul for restoration, and in 1998 completed a 36-minute video documentary about the Clavette.

In 2004 he played original solo piano pieces and improvisations in the Zeitgeist Gallery (Cambridge, Mass.) Piano Festival, and completed a music video of his microtonal Endangered Species duet.

Since 2008 he has created a number of piano solos, 4-hands pieces, and strings arrangements for his children, and has also played original pieces in the Fall River (Mass.) Arts Around the Block festivals.

Current projects include music videos including the Clavette; updating the Java GUI version of his CurvJ MIDI software; completing the software and hardware setup of his Microzone keyboard.

Works-in-progress include pieces for the Clavette, a duet for saxophone and electric guitar for Christopher Creviston and Oren Fader, and another work for orchestra.