Gwyneth Walker
Encyclopedia
Personal
Walker grew up in New Canaan, ConnecticutNew Canaan, Connecticut
New Canaan is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, northeast of Stamford, on the Fivemile River. The population was 19,738 according to the 2010 census.The town is one of the most affluent communities in the United States...
and is a graduate of Pembroke College
Pembroke College (Brown University)
Pembroke College in Brown University was the coordinate women's college for Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1891 and closed in 1971.-Founding and early history:...
in Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
and the Hartt School of Music and holds B.A., M.M., and D.M.A. degrees in music composition. During her undergraduate career she was the director of the a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
women's singing group, The Chattertocks of Brown University
The Chattertocks of Brown University
Founded over fifty years ago, The Chattertocks of Brown University, together with the Smiffenpoofs of Smith College, the V8s of Mt. Holyoke College and the Mischords of Middlebury College, is one of the oldest women's college a cappella singing groups in the United States.-History:Nancy Tobin,...
.
Upon completing her academic training, she joined the faculty of the Oberlin College Conservatory. She resigned in 1982 in order to pursue a career as a full-time composer and now lives on a dairy farm in Braintree, Vermont
Braintree, Vermont
-External links:* *...
.
Work
Gwyneth Walker has written over 180 compositions for orchestra, chorus and individual instruments. They have been performed nationwide in venues such as Carnegie HallCarnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, the Washington National Cathedral
Washington National Cathedral
The Washington National Cathedral, officially named the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church located in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. Of neogothic design, it is the sixth-largest cathedral in the world, the second-largest in...
, and The Ellen Show
The Ellen Show
The Ellen Show is a television sitcom starring Ellen DeGeneres that aired during the 2001–2002 season on CBS. It was DeGeneres's second attempt at a sitcom, after Ellen on ABC , but it was unable to garner strong ratings and was quickly cancelled.After coming out of the closet as a lesbian on her...
.
Her work, while appealing to modern sensibilities, is traditional and accessible in the unadorned style of American composers such as Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
and Charles Ives
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...
. "My pieces always have melody and form and a rhythm that’s right there for you," she says. Among Walker's more popular works are Songs for Women's Voices a cycle of choral works based on six poems by the U.S. poet May Swenson, and A Vision of Hills, a piano trio that Walker says was inspired by her home state of Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
.
In recent years, Gwyneth Walker traveled across the United States working with a variety of musicians as they recorded her works. As a result of these collaborations, several new CDs have been released:
- A Vision of Hills (piano trios and string works, performed by Trio Tulsa),
- An Hour to Dance (music for SATB chorus recorded by the choirs at Whitman College),
- Now Let Us Sing! (with Bella Voce Women’s Chorus, Burlington, Vermont),
- The Sun Is Love (solo voice and piano works performed by Chicago artists Michelle Areyzaga and Jamie Shaak),
- Scattering Dark and Bright (song cycles recorded by the Walker-Eklof Duo).
Gwyneth Walker's choral work, “Songs to the Lord of Peace” was commissioned by the Center for Catholic Studies at Fairfield University
Fairfield University
Fairfield University is a private, co-educational undergraduate and master's level teaching-oriented university located in Fairfield, Connecticut, in the New England region of the United States. It was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1942, and today is one of 28 member institutions of the...
in celebration of the 60th Anniversary Season of the Fairfield University Glee Club
Fairfield University Glee Club
The Fairfield University Glee Club is a mixed chorus of more than 100 undergraduate and graduate singers at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. The Glee Club has performed in churches, schools and recital and concert halls throughout Europe, singing from Galway to Rome and Florence to...
, which premiered the work on April 14, 2007 in Fairfield, CT.
Gwyneth Walker's choral work, “A Heart in Hiding (The Passionate Love Poems of Emily Dickinson),” was commissioned and performed by the Thomas Circle Singers
Thomas Circle Singers
Thomas Circle Singers is an independent chamber chorus located in Washington DC. It donates concert ticket proceeds to nonprofit organizations...
in Washington DC, in 2008.
Awards
- 2000 "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the Vermont Arts Council
- 2008 "Athenaeum Award for Achievement in the Arts and Humanities" from the St. Johnsbury (VT) Athenaeum.