Listen: WWFM looks back on the life of George Walker
On its September 1 program, WWFM’s “A Tempo” looked back on the life of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and Montclair resident George Walker. Hear interviews with the late composer’s son, Gregory, and former NJSO President & CEO Larry Tamburri, at wwfm.org.
The NJSO will perform Walker’s Lyric for Strings on its opening-weekend program in memory of the late composer. A longtime Montclair resident and former chairman of the music department at Rutgers University, Walker passed away on August 23 at the age of 96.
The NJSO commissioned and performed multiple works by Walker, including the world premieres of Pageant and Proclamation for the opening of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark in 1997 and Sinfonia No. 4, “Strands,” through the New Jersey Roots Project in 2012.
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» NJSO to perform George Walker’s Lyric for Strings on opening weekend
Zhang Conducts Beethoven 9
2018–19 Season
- XIAN ZHANG conductor (pictured)
- MARY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS soprano
- ELIZABETH BISHOP mezzo-soprano
- LORENZO DECARO tenor
- REGINALD D. SMITH JR. baritone
- MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY SINGERS
- MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY CHORALE
- NEWARK VOICES
- Heather J. Buchanan, conductor
- NEW JERSEY YOUTH CHORUSES Trish Joyce, artistic director
- NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
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KATE WHITLEY Speak Out (US Premiere)
Stirring and poignant; rising British composer Kate Whitley’s work is based on Malala Yousafzai’s legendary speech to the United Nations advocating the right of every girl to have an education.
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WALKER Lyric for Strings
We perform this celebrated work in memory of the late Pulitzer Prize-winning composer George Walker—a Montclair resident and friend of the NJSO.
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BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9, “Choral”
An unmistakable masterpiece; the hymn’s text extolling the human bond is sung by a joyful assembly, a massed choir including singers from MSU and our surrounding communities.