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Musical Love Affair

Melinda Wagner, Gr'86, says that musical composition is like "writing a kind of love letter to performers. They will be interpreting something that is incredibly personal to me, so it feels like a love affair." That quiet intimacy suddenly became public when the SAS alumna won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for "distinguished musical composition of significant dimension." The prize was awarded for Concerto for Flute, Strings, and Percussion, which was commissioned by the Westchester Philharmonic and premiered last May in Purchase, NY. Wagner's orchestral, chamber, and vocal works have been performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the American Composers Orchestra, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the New York New Music Ensemble, and other leading groups. The recipient of numerous honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, she has taught at Penn, Syracuse, Swarthmore, and other academic institutions.


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