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George walker composer8/9/2023 ↑ Walker, George (2009) Reminiscences of an American Composer and Pianist, Scarecrow Press, p.Walker died on Augfrom a fall at a hospital in Montclair, New Jersey at the age of 96. Walker was the father of two sons, violinist and composer Gregory T.S. His autobiography, "Reminiscences of an American Composer and Pianist", was released in 2009 by Scarecrow Press. Mayor Marion Barry proclaimed Jas “George Walker Day”. The following year, Walker was inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame. Walker was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1999. A string orchestra arrangement of the second movement of that work received its world premiere in a radio broadcast that was conducted by pianist Seymour Lipkin. In 1946, Walker composed his String Quartet no. Louis, Williams College and Montclair State University. Walker taught music at Columbia University, Wayne State University, Wellesley College, Temple University, Washington University in St. He received the Pulitzer for his work Lilacs in 1996. He was the first to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Lilacs, the Whitman setting that won Walker his Pulitzer, can be found here.Īnd you can explore even more of his music on Spotify here.George Theophilus Walker (J– August 23, 2018) was an African-American composer, educator and autobiographer. Walker dedicated it to his grandmother, who died when he was a student at the Curtis Institute. Lyric for Strings, his most performed work, is completely haunting and beautiful. How can I listen to George Walker’s music? In Washington D.C., 17 June – his birthday – is recognised as George Walker Day. He is survived by two sons: Ian Walker, a playwright, and Gregory Walker, a violinist and former concertmaster of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra in Colorado. He died, an esteemed composer and academic, at 96 years old in New Jersey, in 2018. Walker was awarded two Guggenheim Fellowships, an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, and honorary doctorates from six institutions. In his later years, Walker enjoyed a successful career in academia, teaching at New York’s New School, Rutgers University in New Jersey, where he was the Chair of the music department, and the Peabody Institute, to name a few. GEORGE WALKER: "Lyric for Strings" (Original Version) George Walker’s later life “His style evolved over the years his earlier works, some written while still a student, embodied an impressive clarity and elegance,” he says. ![]() Walker’s music is routed in the Western classical tradition in which he was trained, but is influenced by the haunting melodies of African American spirituals and jazz.Ībove all, composer Jeffrey Mumford tells NPR, “His music is always characterised by a great sense of dignity, which is how he always comported himself.”Īs a music lecturer at Lorain County Community College in Ohio, Mumford teaches Walker’s music to his students. “The other aspect, of course, is that if I were not black, I would have had a far wider dispersion of my music and more performances.” What does George Walker’s music sound like? Walker spoke about the label in a 1987 interview with broadcaster Bruce Duffie, saying: “I’ve benefited from being a black composer in the sense that when there are symposiums given of music by black composers, I would get performances by orchestras that otherwise would not have done the works. In an article from January 2020, the LA Times criticised how his music most often appears in concert programmes in Black History Month. ![]() This doesn’t do justice to his status as one of the great American composers. Walker was always referred to as an African American composer, rather than just ‘American’. ‘African American’ – but never just ‘American’ George Walker was the first Black composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Read more: Nadia Boulanger, the 20th century’s greatest music teacher > ![]() In the late 1950s, Walker moved to Paris to study for two years with Nadia Boulanger, credited as the 20th century’s most famous music pedagogue for having taught Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein and Philip Glass, among others.īoulanger was allegedly so impressed with Walker’s musicianship that she made him exempt of her usual student requirements, telling him he could bring anything he wanted to show her at lessons.
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