Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize in music, the very first holder of the Carnegie Hall Composer’s Chair, and a woman who helped blaze a trail in a world that seems only recently to have become truly equal-opportunity, turns 85 on April 30, 2024. Read the press release here.
On April 9, BMOP/sound releases Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Symphony No. 5, a recording by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project of Zwilich’s Upbeat (1999); Concerto Elegia (2015) with flute soloist Sarah Brady; Commedia dell’Arte (2012) with violin soloist Gabriela Diaz; and Symphony No. 5 (Concerto for Orchestra) (2008).
As BMOP notes: “Ellen Taaffe Zwilich may have found inspiration through introspection, but her music is anything but introverted. Concerto Elegia and Commedia dell'Arte unpack disparate themes—mourning a loss and the joy of theater—each within the framework of the concerto, exhibiting Zwilich's creativity and imagination in addition to her compositional prowess. While the concerti are naturally inviting, as if to allow you to partake in an intimate discussion, Symphony No. 5 grabs one's attention by introducing its own unmatched scale and grandeur. The listening experience pivots from a conversation to a Socratic debate, where a plurality of ideas shape a prevailing vision among its participants.”
See the recording on the BMOP website here.
