description Julia Wolfe Overview
Julia Wolfe is an American composer whose work includes orchestral, chamber, choral, and music-theater pieces. She co-founded the new-music organization Bang on a Can with Michael Gordon and David Lang, and her compositions often draw on documentary sources, physical labor, and American social history. Her oratorio Anthracite Fields, about the coal-mining communities of Pennsylvania, received the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2015.
help Julia Wolfe FAQ
What new-music organization did Julia Wolfe co-found?
Julia Wolfe co-founded Bang on a Can with Michael Gordon and David Lang. The organization became an important platform for contemporary and experimental music.
What kinds of music does Julia Wolfe compose?
Her catalog includes orchestral, chamber, choral, and music-theater works. Her compositions often draw on documentary sources, physical labor, and American history.
What is Julia Wolfe's Anthracite Fields?
Anthracite Fields is a major Julia Wolfe work about the coal-mining history of Pennsylvania. It was written for choir and orchestra and won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2015.
Why is Julia Wolfe associated with documentary-style composition?
Wolfe often builds works from real voices, historical material, and the physical experience of labor. That approach connects her concert music and music theater to documentary storytelling.
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