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Beautiful Music NOW - George Walker's Lilacs

Frank Schramm
/
Strings Magazine

Today's Beautiful Music was composed by American composer, pianist, and educator George Walker who lived from 1922-2018. In 1996 he became the first first African American person to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. It was his 1955 composition for voice and orchestra, LILACS, that earned him the award, and it is today's Beautiful Music. This 2022 performance features soprano Samantha Martin with The Orchestra Now (TŌN), conducted by Leon Botsteinat the Fisher Center at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. Learn more about George Walker's life and career.

Suzanne Bona is the host and executive producer of Sunday Baroque, a nationally syndicated weekly radio show of Baroque and early music which she originated on WSHU in 1987.