Ellen Taaffe Zwilich ( ; born April 30, 1939) is an American composer, the first female composer to win the

Pulitzer Prize for Music The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted i ...

. Her early works are marked by

atonal Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on ...

exploration, but by the late 1980s, she had shifted to a

postmodernist Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, Culture, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting ...

neoromantic The term neo-romanticism is used to cover a variety of movements in philosophy, literature, music, painting, and architecture, as well as social movements, that exist after and incorporate elements from the era of Romanticism. It has been used ...

style. She has been called "one of America's most frequently played and genuinely popular living composers."Schwartz, K. Robert. "Ellen Taaffe Zwilich." Grove Music Online. Ed. L. Macy. Accessed December 20, 2006. www.grovemusic.com. She was a 1994 inductee into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. Zwilich has served as the Francis Eppes Distinguished Professor at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

Biography

Ellen Taaffe was born in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. She began her music studies as a

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist, earning a

bachelor of music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

degree from

in 1960. She moved to New York City to play with the

American Symphony Orchestra The American Symphony Orchestra is a New York–based American orchestra founded in 1962 by Leopold Stokowski whose mission is to demystify orchestral music and make it accessible and affordable for all audiences. Leon Botstein is the orchestra ...

under

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. H ...

. She later enrolled at

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

, in 1975 becoming the first woman at Juilliard to earn the degree of

doctor of musical arts The doctor of musical arts (DMA) is a doctorate, doctoral academic degree in music. The DMA combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually Performance, music performance, music composition, or conducting) with graduate-le ...

in composition. Her teachers included John Boda,

Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer who was one of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century. He combined elements of European modernism and American " ...

, and

Roger Sessions Roger Huntington Sessions (December 28, 1896March 16, 1985) was an American composer, teacher, and writer on music. He had started his career writing in a neoclassical style, but gradually moved towards complex harmonies and postromanticism, a ...

. She first came to prominence when

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

programmed her '' Symposium for Orchestra'' with the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra in 1975."Ellen Taaffe Zwilich." Theodore Presser Online. Accessed December 20, 2006. Availabl
here
Some of her work during this period was written for her husband, violinist Joseph Zwilich, who played in the orchestra of the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

. He died in 1979, after which Taaffe Zwilich refocused her compositional efforts on "communicating more directly with performers and listeners," softening her somewhat harsh, jagged style. Her Symphony No. 1 (''Three Movements for Orchestra'') was premiered by the

American Composers Orchestra The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is an American orchestra administratively based in New York City, specialising in contemporary American music. The ACO gives concerts at various concert venues in New York City, including: * Zankel Hall at ...

in 1982, conducted by

Gunther Schuller Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician. Biography and works Early years Schuller was born in Queens, New York City ...

. It won the 1983

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

, after which her popularity and income from commissions ensured that she could devote herself to composing full-time. From 1995–99, she was the first occupant of the Composer's Chair at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

;"Women of Historic Note"
''Washington Post'', By Gayle Worl March 9, 1997 while there, she created the "Making Music" concert series, which focuses on performances and lectures by living composers, a series that is still in existence. She has received a number of other honors, including the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Chamber Music Prize, the

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...

Music Critics Award, the Ernst von Dohnányi Citation, an Academy Award from the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...

, a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, and four Grammy nominations. She was elected to the

and the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, and in 1999, she was designated

Musical America ''Musical America'' is the oldest American magazine on classical music, first appearing in 1898 in print and in 1999 online magazine, online, at musicalamerica.com. It is published by Performing Arts Resources, LLC, of East Windsor, New Jersey. ...

's Composer of the Year. She has been professor at Florida State University, and has served for many years on the advisory panel of the BMI Foundation, Inc. In 2009, she became the chair of the BMI Student Composer Awards following Milton Babbitt and William Schuman. She has received six honorary doctorates. A 2012 recording of Taaffe Zwilich's Concerto for Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra, performed by

Chamber Music Northwest Chamber Music Northwest (CMNW) is an American non-profit organization in Portland, Oregon, dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music. In addition to its annual Summer Festival, the organization also presents individual chamber ...

with clarinetist David Shifrin, was selected by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

in 2023 for preservation in the United States

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation ...

for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Musical career

Taaffe Zwilich's compositional style is marked by an obsession with "the idea of generating an entire work – large-scale structure, melodic and harmonic language, and developmental processes – from its initial motives." In addition to large scale orchestral works like '' Symbolon'' (1988), Symphony No. 2 (''Cello Symphony'') (1985), and Symphony No. 3 (1992), she has written a number of notable, smaller-scale concertos. These include works for

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

(1988),

bass trombone The bass trombone (, ) is the bass instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. Modern instruments are pitched in the same B♭ as the tenor trombone but with a larger bore, bell and mouthpiece to facilitate low register playing, and u ...

(1989),

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

(1989),

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

(1990),

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

(1992),

horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...

(1993),

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

(1994) and

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

(2002). She has also written a small number of choral works and

song cycle A song cycle () is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in sequence, as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarely a combinat ...

s. Her music was conducted by

at Juilliard in 1975. Her major breakthrough came after winning the 1983

for her Symphony No. 1. Following this, she was commissioned to work on two more symphonies, for the

San Francisco Symphony The San Francisco Symphony, founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley, San Francisco, Hayes Valley ne ...

and for the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

's 150th anniversary. ''Symbolon'' has been performed in Europe, Asia, and America.

Symphonies

* Symphony No. 1 ''Three Movements for Orchestra'' (1982,

, 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, commissioned by

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

) * Symphony No. 5 ''Concerto for Orchestra'' (2008, commissioned by the

; premiere October 27, 2008, Carnegie Hall, Juilliard Orchestra, James Conlon, conductor)

Other symphonic works

* ''Symposium'' (1973) * ''Passages'' (1982) * ''Prologue and Variations'', for String orchestra (1983) * ''Tanzspiel'', ballet in four scenes (1983) * ''Celebration for Orchestra'' (Overture) (1984) * '' Concerto Grosso 1985'' (in commemoration of the 300th anniversary of

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

's birth) * '' Symbolon'' (1988) * ''Ceremonies for Concert Band'' (1988) * ''Fantasy for orchestra'' (1993) * ''Jubilation Overture'' (1996) * ''Upbeat!'' (1998) * ''Openings'' (2001)

Concertante works

Piano Concerto A piano concerto, a type of concerto, is a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for piano accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuosic showpieces which require an advance ...

(No. 1) (1986) * ''Images'' (Suite in 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 A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

(No. 1) (1997) * '' Millennium Fantasy'' (Piano Concerto No. 2) (2000; commissioned for Pianist Jeffrey Biegel, project featuring 27 orchestras in the USA; premiere with Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Jesus Lopez-Cobos conductor; recorded for Naxos with the Florida State University Orchestra, Alexander Jimenez conductor * ''Partita'' (Violin Concerto No. 2) for violin and string orchestra (2000) *

Clarinet Concerto A clarinet concerto is a concerto for clarinet; that is, a musical composition for solo clarinet together with a large ensemble (such as an orchestra or concert band). Albert Rice has identified a work by Giuseppe Antonio Paganelli as possibly th ...

(2002) * ''Rituals'' for five percussion players and orchestra (2003) (Invocation; Ambulation; Remembrances; Contests) * ''Shadows'' (Piano Concerto No. 3) (2011; commissioned for pianist Jeffrey Biegel, 8 orchestras in the US, Canada and England; premiere with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Carlos Miguel Prieto conductor; October 28/29, 2011) * ''Commedia dell'Arte'' (Violin Concerto No. 3) for violin and string orchestra (2012) * ''Concerto Elegia'' (Elegy, Soliloquy and Finale) for flute and string orchestra (2015) * ''Pas de Trois'' (Piano Trio, 2016) *

Cello Concerto A cello concerto (sometimes called a violoncello concerto) is a concerto for solo cello with orchestra or, very occasionally, smaller groups of instruments. These pieces have been written since the Baroque era if not earlier. However, unlike instru ...

(2020) * ''Saxophone Concerto'' for alto saxophone and wind ensemble (2022)

Chamber music

* 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 (flute, clarinet, percussion, double bass and piano) (1984) * ''Double Quartet'' for strings (1984) * Piano Trio (1987) * Clarinet Quintet (1990) * ''Romance'' for violin and piano (or for violin and chamber orchestra) (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)

Notes

External links

Official Website
* * *

by George Sturm
Ellen Taafe Zwilich's page at Theodore Presser Company

January 13, 1986
Ellen Zwilich with David Dubal in 1991
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zwilich, Ellen Taaffe 20th-century American classical composers 21st-century American classical composers American women classical composers Florida State University alumni Pulitzer Prize for Music winners MacDowell Colony fellows Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters American people of German descent 1939 births Living people Florida State University faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Musicians from Miami Pupils of Roger Sessions 20th-century American women composers 21st-century American women composers American women academics