Ellen Taaffe Zwilich facts for kids

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (born April 30, 1939) is a famous American composer. She made history by becoming the first female composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Her early music was quite experimental, using a style called atonal music. But later, in the 1980s, her music became more melodic and expressive, a style sometimes called neoromantic. Many people consider her one of the most popular living composers in America. In 1994, she was honored by being added to the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. She also worked as a special professor at Florida State University.

Biography

Ellen Taaffe was born in Miami, Florida. She started learning music by playing the violin. She earned her first music degree from Florida State University in 1960. After that, she moved to New York City. There, she played the violin with the American Symphony Orchestra. This orchestra was led by the famous conductor Leopold Stokowski.

Later, Ellen went to the Juilliard School, a very famous music school. In 1975, she became the first woman at Juilliard to earn a special degree called a doctor of musical arts in composition. This means she was the first woman there to get the highest degree in writing music. Some of her teachers included John Boda, Elliott Carter, and Roger Sessions. She first became well-known when a conductor named Pierre Boulez chose her piece, Symposium for Orchestra, to be played by the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra in 1975.

Some of her music during this time was written for her husband, Joseph Zwilich. He was a violinist who played in the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera. Sadly, he passed away in 1979. After his death, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich decided to change her focus. She wanted her music to connect more directly with the musicians and listeners. This made her style, which had been a bit sharp before, become softer and more flowing.

Her Symphony No. 1 (also called Three Movements for Orchestra) was first played in 1982. The American Composers Orchestra performed it, led by Gunther Schuller. This symphony won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize. After winning this award, she became very popular. She received many requests to write new music, which meant she could spend all her time composing.

From 1995 to 1999, she held a special position at Carnegie Hall, a famous concert venue. She was the first person to be the "Composer's Chair" there. During her time at Carnegie Hall, she created a concert series called "Making Music." This series features performances and talks by living composers, and it is still happening today.

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich has received many other awards and honors. These include the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Chamber Music Prize and the Arturo Toscanini Music Critics Award. She also received an award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She was chosen to be a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1999, she was named Musical America's Composer of the Year. She has also been a professor at Florida State University. For many years, she helped guide the BMI Foundation, Inc. In 2009, she became the head of the BMI Student Composer Awards. She has also received six honorary doctorates, which are special degrees given to honor her achievements.

In 2023, a recording of Zwilich's Concerto for Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra was chosen for a special honor. The Library of Congress selected it for the United States National Recording Registry. This means the recording is considered very important for its cultural, historical, or artistic value.

Musical career

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's way of writing music is special. She often starts with a small musical idea, like a short tune or rhythm. Then, she uses that idea to create the entire piece. This includes the main structure, the melodies, the harmonies, and how the music develops.

Besides her large orchestral works, like Symbolon (1988) and her Symphony No. 2 (1985), she has written many concertos. A concerto is a piece of music where one instrument plays a solo part with an orchestra. She has written concertos for many different instruments. These include the trombone (1988), flute (1989), oboe (1990), bassoon (1992), horn (1993), trumpet (1994), and clarinet (2002). She has also written some pieces for choirs and groups of songs called song cycles.

Her music was first conducted by Pierre Boulez at Juilliard in 1975. Her biggest success came after she won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for her Symphony No. 1. After this, she was asked to write two more symphonies. One was for the San Francisco Symphony and another for the New York Philharmonic's 150th anniversary. Her piece Symbolon has been played in many places around the world, including Europe, Asia, and America.

Symphonies

• Symphony No. 1 Three Movements for Orchestra (1982, won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1983)
• Symphony No. 2 Cello Symphony (1985)
• Symphony for Winds (1989)
• Symphony No. 3 (1992)
• Symphony No. 4 The Gardens for chorus, children's chorus and orchestra (1999)
• Symphony No. 5 Concerto for Orchestra (2008)

Other orchestral works

• Symposium (1973)
• Passages (1982)
• Prologue and Variations, for String orchestra (1983)
• Tanzspiel, a ballet in four scenes (1983)
• Celebration for Orchestra (Overture) (1984)
• Concerto Grosso 1985 (written to celebrate 300 years since George Frideric Handel's birth)
• Symbolon (1988)
• Ceremonies for Concert Band (1988)
• Fantasy for orchestra (1993)
• Jubilation Overture (1996)
• Upbeat! (1998)
• Openings (2001)

=Concertos (Solo Instrument with Orchestra)

• Piano Concerto (No. 1) (1986)
• Images (five movements) for two pianos and orchestra (1986)
• Trombone Concerto (1988)
• Concerto for bass trombone, strings, timpani and cymbals (1989)
• Flute Concerto (No. 1) (1989)
• Oboe Concerto (1990)
• Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra (1991)
• Bassoon Concerto (1992)
• Concerto for horn and string orchestra (1993)
• Romance for violin and chamber Orchestra (or for violin and piano) (1993)
• American Concerto for trumpet and orchestra (1994)
• Triple Concerto for piano, violin, cello and orchestra (1995)
• Peanuts Gallery, six pieces for piano and chamber orchestra (1996)
• Violin Concerto (No. 1) (1997)
• Millennium Fantasy (Piano Concerto No. 2) (2000)
• Partita (Violin Concerto No. 2) for violin and string orchestra (2000)
• Clarinet Concerto (2002)
• Rituals for five percussion players and orchestra (2003)
• Shadows (Piano Concerto No. 3) (2011)
• Commedia dell'Arte (Violin Concerto No. 3) for violin and string orchestra (2012)
• Concerto Elegia for flute and string orchestra (2015)
• Pas de Trois (Piano Trio, 2016)
• Cello Concerto (2020)
• Saxophone Concerto for alto saxophone and wind ensemble (2022)

Chamber music (Small Groups of Instruments)

• Violin Sonata in Three Movements (1973–74)
• String Quartet No. 1 (1974)
• Clarinet Quintet (1977)
• Chamber Symphony for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello and piano (1979)
• Passages (1981)
• String Trio (1982)
• Divertimento for flute, clarinet, violin and cello (1983)
• Intrada (1983)
• Concerto for trumpet and five instruments (1984)
• Double Quartet for strings (1984)
• Piano Trio (1987)
• Clarinet Quintet (1990)
• Romance for violin and piano (1993)
• String Quartet No. 2 (1998)
• Lament for cello and piano (2000)
• Episodes for violin and piano (2003)
• Quartet for oboe and strings (2004)
• Quintet for alto saxophone and string quartet (2007)
• Episodes for soprano saxophone and piano (2007)
• Septet for piano trio and string quartet (2008)
• Quintet for violin, viola, cello, double bass and piano (2010)
• Voyage (String Quartet No. 3) (2012)

See also

In Spanish: Ellen Zwilich para niños