George Walker (composer)
George Theophilus Walker (born June 27, 1922 in Washington, DC - † August 23, 2018 in Montclair , New Jersey ) was an American composer and music teacher .
Career
Walker had piano lessons since childhood, attended the Junior Department of Music at Howard University and gave his first concert there when he was fourteen. From 1937 he studied piano with David Moyer and organ with Arthur Poister at Oberlin College , which he left in 1941 as a Bachelor of Music. At the Curtis Institute of Music he continued his education with Rudolf Serkin and Mieczysław Horszowski (piano) as well as William Primrose and Gregor Piatigorsky (chamber music) and received a diploma as pianist and composer in 1945.
In 1956 he received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music . He then went to France, where he studied with Robert Casadesus and private lessons with Nadia Boulanger at the American Academy in Fontainebleau. He has taught at Dillard University , Dalcroze School of Music , New School for Social Research , Smith College , University of Colorado, and the University of Delaware's Peabody Conservatory of Music . From 1969 until his retirement in 1992 he taught, from 1976 as Distinguished Professor at Rutgers University . In 1996 he became the first African American to receive a Pulitzer Prize in Music for the piece Lilacs for voice and orchestra. In 1999 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters .
Works
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Individual evidence
- ↑ George Walker, Trailblazing American Composer, Dies At 96
- ^ Members: George Walker. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed May 1, 2019 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Walker, George |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Walker, George Theophilus |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American composer and music teacher |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 27, 1922 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Washington, DC |
| DATE OF DEATH | 23rd August 2018 |
| Place of death | Montclair , New Jersey |