description George Walker Overview
George Walker was an American composer and pianist whose music includes orchestral, chamber, vocal, and solo piano works. In 1996 he became the first African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Music, winning for Lilacs, a work for voice and orchestra based on poetry by Walt Whitman. His writing combines rigorous formal construction with varied modern harmonic and rhythmic languages.
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Why is George Walker historically important?
In 1996 he became the first African American composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. He won for Lilacs, a work for voice and orchestra.
What is George Walker's Lilacs about?
Lilacs sets poetry for voice and orchestra and was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It premiered in Boston on February 1, 1996, with soprano Faye Robinson and conductor Seiji Ozawa.
Was George Walker also a pianist?
Yes. He was a major concert pianist as well as a composer, and he studied at the Curtis Institute with pianist Rudolf Serkin.
What kinds of music did George Walker compose?
His catalog includes orchestral, chamber, vocal, solo piano, and choral works. Examples include piano sonatas, string quartets, concertos, Sinfonias, and the orchestral work Address for Orchestra.
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