"A Streetcar Named Desire" w/ Cottbus Ballet - George Walker

The last classical afro-american composer I chose for my ballet is George Walker.

“George Theophilus Walker (June 27, 1922 – August 23, 2018) was an American composer, pianist, and organist, and the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, which he received for his work Lilacs in 1996. Walker was married to pianist and scholar Helen Walker-Hill (May 26, 1936 – August 8, 2013) between 1960 and 1975. Walker was the father of two sons, violinist and composer Gregory T.S. Walker and playwright Ian Walker.

Walker was first exposed to music at the age of five when he began to play the piano. He was admitted to the Oberlin Conservatory at fourteen, and later 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. He received his doctorate from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. Walker taught at Rutgers University in New Jersey for several years, retiring in 1992.

Walker's first major orchestral work was the Address for Orchestra. His Lyric for Strings is his most performed orchestral work. He composed many works including five sonatas for piano, a mass, cantata, many songs, choral works, organ pieces, sonatas for cello and piano, violin and piano and viola and piano, a brass quintet and a woodwind quintet. He published over 90 works and received commissions from the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and many other ensembles. He was the recipient of six honorary doctoral degrees.

Walker was the father of two sons, violinist and composer Gregory Walker, and playwright Ian Walker. He died on August 23, 2018, in Montclair, New Jersey, at the age of 96.” (Source Wikipedia)

For the ballet, I chose two of his works -

Antifonys for String Orchestra

Lyric for Strings

Both are manufactured quite oppositely but maintain a clear tension throughout their different colours. At first hearing, one can get a sense of the wide spectrum this composer had.