ELLEN TAAFE ZWILICH, born 1939, the pioneering American composer. First woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, first woman doctoral student at Juilliard, first Composer’s Chair in the history of Carnegie Hall. She broke a lot of barriers early on. And, a prize winning violinist who played in Leopold Stokowski’s American Symphony Orchestra in the 50s. That was her first job, moving from Florida to NY even before she started at Juilliard. And, receiving conflicting advice there by the way! When she wanted to switch to a composition major one of her profs sat her down and said Come on, you’re a girl, this is not a good move. And another of her profs said GREAT! You’ll love it you’ll do well! She went with him. And then Pierre Boulez programmed her Symposium for Orchestra with the Juilliard Symphony in 1975 and she was on her way.
Now back in Florida where she still holds a professorship at Florida State University, Ellen Taafe Zwilich has a wide oeuvre played and liked by audiences around the world. She’s even mentioned in Peanuts - Charles Schulz is a fan. And her advice is this. "Success is more difficult than failure. When you fail, all those times you get your foot in the door and the door slams so tight it breaks your foot, if you can pick yourself up and go on, you become much stronger"
MUSIC: Symphony No. 2 “Cello”: presto finale
Presented by composer Joan Tower for International Women’s Month in March, written and produced by Charlotte Wilson for WMHT
Correction to audio: Ellen Taafe Zwilich was born in 1939, not 1937
