Piano Sonata No. 2 Allegretto Tranquillo - Music

Piano Sonata No. 2 Allegretto Tranquillo by George Walker

George Walker

Artist Biography For George Walker

George Theophilus Walker June 27 1922 - August 23 2018 Was An African-American Composer The First To Win The Pulitzer Prize For Music. He Received The Pulitzer For His Work Lilacs In 1996. Walker Is The Father Of Two Sons Violinist And Composer Gregory T.S. Walker And Playwright Ian Walker. George Theophilus Walker Was Born In Washington D.C. On June 27 1922. His Father Emigrated From Kingston Jamaica To The United States Where He Became A Physician After Graduating From Temple University School Of Medicine. Walker's Mother Rosa King Supervised Her Son's First Piano Lessons When He Was Five Years Old. His First Teacher Was Miss Mary L. Henry. Mrs. Lillian Mitchell Allen Who Had Earned A Doctorate In Music Education Became His Second Piano Teacher. Before Graduating Dunbar High School George Walker Was Presented In His First Public Recital At Age 14 At Howard University's Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel. He Was Admitted To The Oberlin Conservatory That Same Year Where He Studied Piano With David Moyer And Organ With Arthur Poister. In 1939 He Became The Organist For The Graduate School Of Theology Of Oberlin College. Graduating At 18 From Oberlin College With The Highest Honors In His Conservatory Class He Was Admitted To The Curtis Institute Of Music To Study Piano With Rudolf Serkin Chamber Music With William Primrose And Gregor Piatigorsky And Composition With Rosario Scalero Teacher Of Samuel Barber. Walker Graduated From The Curtis Institute With Artist Diplomas In Piano And Composition In 1945 Becoming One Of The First Black Graduates Of The Music School. Walker Was Presented In A Debut Recital In Manhattan's Town Hall. With This "notable" Debut As It Was Described By The New York Times He Became The First Black Instrumentalist To Perform In There. Over The Course Of The Next Five Decades He Balanced A Career As A Concert Pianist Teacher And Composer. Two Weeks After His New York Debut He Performed Rachmaninoff's 3rd Piano Concerto With The Philadelphia Orchestra Conducted By Eugene Ormandy As The Winner Of The Philadelphia Youth Auditions. He Was The First Black Instrumentalist To Appear With This Orchestra. The Following Year He Played Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 With The Baltimore Symphony Reginald Stewart Conducting And The 4th Beethoven Concerto With Dean Dixon And His Orchestra. In 1950 Walker Became The First Black Instrumentalist To Be Signed By A Major Management The National Concert Artists. In 1954 He Toured Seven European Countries Playing In The Major Cities Of Stockholm Copenhagen The Hague Amsterdam Frankfurt Am Main Lausanne Berne Milan And London. Upon Returning To The United States He Taught At Dillard University In New Orleans Louisiana For One Year Before Entering The Doctor Of Musical Arts Degree Program At The University Of Rochester's Eastman School Of Music In 1955. In 1956 He Became The First Black Recipient Of A Doctoral Degree From That Institution As Well As The Recipient Of A Second Artist Diploma In Piano. George Walker Was Awarded Both A Fulbright Fellowship And A John Hay Whitney Fellowship In 1957. He Spent The Next Two Years In Paris Studying Composition With Nadia Boulanger. In 1959 He Embarked Upon Another International Tour Playing Concerts In France Holland And Italy. After A Recital In London’s Wigmore Hall In 1963 Sponsored By Mrs. Zimbalist He Received An Honorary Membership In The Frederic Chopin Society There. Walker's Academic Career Continued In 1960 With Faculty Appointments To The Dalcroze School Of Music The New School For Social Research 14 Where He Introduced A Course In Aesthetics Smith College 1961–68 Where He Became The First Tenured Black Faculty Member The University Of Colorado Boulder 1968–69 As Visiting Professor Rutgers University 1969–92 Where He Served As Chairman Of The Music Department For Several Years The Peabody Institute Of Johns Hopkins University 1975–78 And The University Of Delaware 1975–76 Where He Was The Recipient Of The First Minority Chair Established By The University. He Has Given Master Classes In Numerous Institutions Including The Curtis Institute Of Music The Oberlin Conservatory Of Music The University Of Colorado Boulder Columbia University Wayne State University Wellesley College Temple University Washington University In St. Louis Williams College And Montclair State University. In 1946 Walker Composed His String Quartet No. 1. 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. Originally Titled Lament Walker Later Changed The Title To Lyric For Strings. It Has Been One Of The Most Frequently Performed Orchestral Works By A Living American Composer. His Subsequent Body Of Work Included Over 90 Works For Orchestra Chamber Orchestra Piano Strings Voice Organ Clarinet Guitar Brass Woodwinds And Chorus. In 1996 Walker Became The First Black Composer To Receive The Pulitzer Prize In Music For His Work Lilacs For Voice And Orchestra Premiered By The Boston Symphony Seiji Ozawa Conducting. Washington D.C. Mayor Marion Barry Proclaimed June 17 1997 As "George Walker Day" In The Nation's Capital. In 1998 He Received The Composers Award From The Lancaster Symphony And The Letter Of Distinction From The American Music Center For "his Significant Contributions To The Field Of Contemporary American Music". 20 He Was Elected To The American Academy Of Arts And Letters In 1999. The Following Year George Walker Was Inducted Into The American Classical Music Hall Of Fame. Over The Next Several Years He Received The Dorothy Maynor Outstanding Arts Citizen Award 2000 Classical Roots Award From The Detroit Symphony 2001 The A.I. Dupont Award From The Delaware Symphony 2002 The Washington Music Hall Of Fame 2002 And The Aaron Copland ASCAP Award 2012 . He Is The Recipient Of Two Guggenheim Fellowships Two Rockefeller Fellowships A Fromm Foundation Commission Two Koussevitsky Awards And An American Academy Of Arts And Letters Award As Well As Honorary Doctorate Degrees From Lafayette College 1982 Oberlin College 1983 Bloomfield College 1996 Montclair State University 1997 Curtis Institute Of Music 1997 Spelman College 2001 And The Eastman School Of Music Where He Gave The Commencement Address 2012 . His Autobiography "Reminiscences Of An American Composer And Pianist" Was Released In 2009 By Scarecrow Press. Major Compositions Walker's Oeuvre Includes The Following Works A Red Red Rose For Voice And Piano
Abu For Narrator And Chamber Ensembles Network For New Music Commission Address For Orchestra
An Eastman Overture Eastman School Of Music Commission Antifonys For Chamber Orchestra
Bleu For Unaccompanied Violin
Cantata For Soprano Tenor Boys Choir And Chamber Orchestra Boys Choir Of Harlem Commission Canvas For Wind Ensemble And Narrator College Band Directors National Association Commission Cello Concerto New York Philharmonic Commission Concerto For Piano And Orchestra National Endowment For The Arts Commission Concerto For Violin And Orchestra
Da Camera Musica Reginae Commission Dialogus For Cello And Orchestra Cleveland Orchestra Commission Emily Dickinson Songs
Five Fancies For Clarinet And Piano Four Hands David Ensemble Commission Foils For Orchestra Hommage A Saint George Eastman School Of Music Commission Folk Songs For Orchestra
Guido's Hand Xerox Commission Hommage To Saint George Eastman School Of Music Commission Hoopla A Touch Of Glee
Icarus In Orbit
In Praise Of Folly
Lilacs For Voice And Orchestra
Lyric For Strings
Mass For Soloists Chorus And Orchestra National Endowment For The Arts Commission Modus Cygnus Ensemble Commission Movements For Cello And Orchestra
Music For 3
Music For Brass Sacred And Profane Music For Two Pianos
Nine Songs For Voice And Piano
Orpheus For Narrator And Chamber Orchestra
Overture In Praise Of Folly
Pageant And Proclamation New Jersey Symphony Commission Perimeters For Clarinet And Piano
Piano Sonata No. 1
Piano Sonata No. 2
Piano Sonata No. 3
Piano Sonata No. 4
Piano Sonata No. 5
Poem For Soprano And Chamber Ensemble National Endowment For The Arts Commission Poeme For Violin And Orchestra Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Premiere Psalms For Chorus
Serenata For Chamber Orchestra Michigan Chamber Orchestra Commission Sinfonia No. 1 Fromm Foundation Commission Sinfonia No. 2 Koussevitsky Commission Sinfonia No. 3
Sinfonia No. 4
Sinfonia No. 5 "Visions" Two Versions One With Voices And One Without Sonata For Two Pianos
Sonata For Viola And Piano
Sonata For Violin And Piano No. 1
Spatials For Piano
Spektra For Piano
Spires For Organ
String Quartet No. 1
String Quartet No. 2
Tangents For Chamber Orchestra Columbus Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra Commission Three Pieces For Organ
Two Pieces For Organ
Variations For Orchestra
Violin And Piano Sonata No. 2
Windset For Woodwind Quintet