JOAN TOWER, born in Westchester County in 1938, now living close to Bard College in the Catskills where she still holds a Chair. A foundational experience was when her geologist mineralogist father moved the family to Bolivia when she was 9 and that’s where she grew up, soaking up the music and rhythm and learning piano and percussion. Later she became the pianist and founder of the Da Capo Chamber Players just after she graduated from Columbia University, that was her first doctorate - winning many big awards including the Gold Baton from the League of American Orchestras, Composer of the Year from Musical America, and the National Service Award from Chamber Music America. Her breakthrough was with Sequoia in 1981 and she’s been performed right around the world ever since, travelling extensively through both chamber music and orchestral worlds with a cycle of nine string quartets to date and over 11 concertos, for leading international soloists and ensembles including Alisa Weilerstein who recently premiered her cello concerto A New Day as well as Evelyn Glennie and David Shifrin, and the Emerson and Tokyo String Quartets to mention just a few.
Joan Tower won her Grammy in 2005 for Made in America, performed in every single state of the union. She's been played by every major orchestra in the USA: she’s held numerous composer residencies; and is the first woman composer to win the Grawemeyer Award, becoming inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters way back in 1998.
It’s one of her popular Fanfares for the Uncommon Woman that you hear at the start of these programs. She’s been in a $1,600 question on jeopardy, on the SAT tests, even on a capsule sent into space.
And the town of Red Hook where Joan lives and where we’ve been recording these programs, named September 16 as Music Appreciation Day in her honor after her 80th Birthday in 2018.
Tune in for the interview with Joan Tower: about this series; about her experience growing up in Bolivia; about her experience as the only woman composer at Columbia in the 60s, and her take on the music scene now; and about what drives her as a composer. As for Joan herself, as a conductor once told her in New Mexico, music is my choice of drug: "and music is my best friend. My goal is to write the best piece I can and I'll never give it up"
MUSIC: Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman (I)
Cello Concerto "A New Day" (2021): Daybreak
Presented by composer Joan Tower for International Women’s Month in March, written and produced by Charlotte Wilson for WMHT
