Karel Husa (born 1921 in Prague) was a modern composer who rose to prominence in the second half of the 20th century. A student of Honegger and Boulanger, Husa never really joined the avant-garde: even though he used some advanced techniques in his music, it has other features that make it quite approachable, and many of his compositions were heard by receptive audiences from the 1960s on. Music for Prague 1968 is perhaps Husa's most frequently played piece, though many important works resulted from major commissions. Husa was awarded the Czech Republic's State Medal Award of Merit by Vaclav Havel in 1995.