Zwilich, Ellen Taaffe (1939–)
Zwilich, Ellen Taaffe (1939–)
American composer. Born April 30, 1939, in Miami, Florida; adopted daughter of Edward Taaffe (airline pilot) and Ruth (Howard) Taaffe; Florida State University, bachelor of music, 1960, MA in music, 1962; Juilliard School of Music, DMA in composition (1975); m. Joseph Zwilich (violinist), June 22, 1969 (died 1979); no children.
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer whose works are widely performed and appreciated for their accessibility to audiences of all levels of musical sophistication; taught at Converse College in Spartanburg, SC (1963–64); moved to New York to study violin with Ivan Galamian; worked as an usher at Carnegie Hall; taught theory and music at Mannes College of Music and Hunter High School; awarded position in the violin section of the American Symphony Orchestra (1965–72); began work on doctorate of musical arts in composition at Juilliard (1970), studying under Elliott Carter and Roger Sessions; wrote Symposium, a work for orchestra, premiered by the Juilliard orchestra under the direction of Pierre Boulez (1973); inducted into the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (1974); wrote String Quartet (1974); was the first woman to be awarded a DMA in composition from the Juilliard School of Music (1975); won the Pulitzer Prize for Symphony No. 1 (1983), the first woman to receive this award; wrote Cello Symphony (1984) and Symbolon (1988).
See also Woman in World History.