Ellen taaffe zwilich biography

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich

American composer
Date of Birth:
Country: USA

Content:
  1. Biography of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich
  2. Early Life and Education
  3. Emerging Career
  4. Awards and Achievements
  5. Current Work

Biography of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich is an American composer and the first woman composer to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Her early works were noted for their extensive use of atonality, but by the late s, she transitioned to a postmodernist, neo-romantic style. Zwilich is often referred to as "one of the most frequently performed and genuinely popular living American composers."

Early Life and Education

Ellen Zwilich was born on April 30, , in Miami, Florida.

Ellen taaffe zwilich biography wikipedia It anticipated a later penchant for writing works for instruments not normally given center stage. Y, Feb. In she wrote a String Quartet which Andrew Frank characterized as "brimming with wonderfully musical ideas. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

She began studying music as a violinist and earned a Bachelor's degree in music from Florida State University in Zwilich then moved to New York to play in the American Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Leopold Stokowski. She later enrolled at the Juilliard School, becoming the first woman to receive a doctorate in musical arts in Her teachers at Juilliard included John Boda, Elliott Carter, and Roger Sessions.

Emerging Career

Zwilich gained recognition when Pierre Boulez included her composition, "Symposium for Orchestra," in the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra's program in During this period, Zwilich's works were often written for her husband, violinist Joseph Zwilich.

However, after his death in , Zwilich shifted her compositional efforts towards more direct communication with performers and listeners, resulting in a softer, more approachable style.

In , the American Symphony Orchestra premiered her "Three Movements for Orchestra (Symphony No. 1)," and in , she won the Pulitzer Prize. This recognition significantly increased her popularity and commissions, allowing Zwilich to dedicate herself fully to composition.

From to , she served as the first composer-in-residence at Carnegie Hall, organizing the concert series "Making Music," which focuses on performances and lectures by living composers. This program continues to this day.

Awards and Achievements

Zwilich has received numerous accolades throughout her career.

In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, she has been awarded the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Chamber Music Prize, Arturo Toscanini Music Critics Award, Ernst von Dohnányi Citation, Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship.

Ellen taaffe zwilich biography Zweig, Fritz. Ellen Gleditsch. Zwingli, Huldrych. Linus' signature music is a lullaby, Snoopy does the Samba, Charlie Brown laments, while Lucy "gets a tantrum in strings.

She has also been nominated for four Grammy Awards. Zwilich is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In , she was named "Composer of the Year" by the oldest American music magazine, Musical America.

Current Work

Currently, Zwilich holds a professorship at Florida State University and serves on the advisory board of the BMI Foundation, Inc.

In , she became the chair of the jury for the BMI Student Composer Awards. Throughout her career, Zwilich has been awarded five honorary doctorates.

Steve reich Ellerbe Becket. The large number of compositions she has written for chamber groups attests to her ability to explore the different sounds possible in small groups. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia. In she received an award from the American Academy and Inst.

In addition to her large-scale orchestral works, such as "Symbolon" (), "Symphony No. 2 (Cello Symphony)" (), and "Symphony No. 3" (), all commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, she has written several significant but less expansive concertos for unconventional instruments. These include works for trombone, bass trombone, flute, oboe, bassoon, horn, and trumpet.

Zwilich has also composed a number of choral works and song cycles.