"I am humbled that I was able to inspire such an amazing philanthropic gesture."
The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra is in a celebratory mood, as was evident in a spirited concert Saturday afternoon in Festival Park. George Walker was the first Black composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for music. Walker, who died in 2018, was honored for his composition "Lilacs" in 1996.
Titled “An American Celebration,” the concert saluted American composers including George Walker, the first Black recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for music. Walker was honored in 1996 for “Lilacs,” but music director Eric Jacobsen, who conducted Saturday, selected the lush “Lyric for Strings” for this program.
The piece certainly lived up to its name in the players’ lyricism, and the strings players beautifully conveyed the work’s emotion, especially its warmth. That’s warmth in the sense of comfort or affection, not physical heat. The sun was doing that all on its own.
Read more at the Orlando Sentinel