Gregory T.S. Walker (born October 19, 1961) is an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, violinist, and

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

. He was the recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Charles Ives Fellowship in 2000, and has performed with major orchestras around the world.

Biography

Walker is the son of music historian

Helen Walker-Hill Helen Walker-Hill (née Siemens; May 26, 1936 – August 8, 2013) was a Canadian pianist and musicologist who specialised in the music of black women composers. Walker-Hill was married to the composer George Walker (composer), George Walker ...

and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer George Walker. He studied with violinist Yuval Yaron and received a master's degree in computer music from the

University of California at San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Sc ...

, and a doctorate in musical composition from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

. Walker currently serves as a professor at the

University of Colorado Denver The University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) is a Public university, public research university located in downtown Denver, Colorado. It is part of the University of Colorado system. Established in 1912 as an extension of the University of C ...

. An accomplished composer and violinist, he performed his Concerto No. 1 for Orchestra and Synthesizer with the Oakland Sinfonietta and earned a second master's in composition from

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...

in 1987. In 1993, the Colorado Symphony commissioned Walker to compose what has been acknowledged as the first " rap symphony", ''Dream N. the Hood''. Walker has been featured in soloist engagements with the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, n ...

, Oberlin Orchestra, the Encuentro Musical de los Americas in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Library of Congress, http://blogs.loc.gov/music/files/2015/05/LOC-1213-George-Walker-Bleu.pdf the

Detroit Symphony The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. Jader Bignamini is the current music ...

, the Colorado Symphony, Poland's Filharmonia Sudecka, and the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, as well as at 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 ...

, England's Lake District Music Festival, Centro Mexicano para la Musica y las Artes Sonoras,

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

, and the Cork Orchestral Society Concert Series in Ireland. For 25 years, Walker served as

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

for the Boulder Philharmonic. Walker's work as a multimedia performance artist has been showcased at the Sonic Circuits International Festival and the New West Electronic Arts & Media Organization Festival ( NWEAMO), and he is featured on the cover of the April 2007 ''International Musician'' magazine. He is currently the Artistic Director of the Colorado NeXt Music Festival.

Works

* Kawanakajima for Video Guitar and Chamber Orchestra (2016) * litchfor CyberGuitar and Symphony Orchestra (2013) * La La, and the Life Goes On for Violin and Piano (2010) * Looking for the Perfect Planet for Amplified Chorus and Video Sampler (2009) * danC for Chamber Orchestra (2008) * The Passion According to St. Toscanini for Quadraphonic Chorus and Orchestra (2003) * Dreamcatcher for Electronic Violin and Orchestra (2003) * 1+1+1=3 for Orchestra (2003) * Magic Man for Amplified Chamber Orchestra (2002) * mysterium conceptionis immaculatae for Orchestra (2000) * Bad Rap for Electric Violin and Chamber Orchestra (Lauren Keiser Music Publishing, 1994) * Like 'Dis for String Quartet/String Orchestra (1987) * Dream N. the Hood for Rapper and Orchestra (1993)Koskoff, Ellen (2005) Musical Cultures in the United States: An Introduction, Routledge, pg 322

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Gregory T.S. 1961 births 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians African-American composers African-American guitarists African-American male composers American male guitarists Living people Mills College alumni University of California, San Diego alumni University of Colorado Boulder alumni University of Colorado Denver faculty 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American people