Gwyneth Walker
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Dr. Gwyneth Walker (b. 1947) is a graduate of Brown University and the Hartt School of Music. She holds B.A., M.M. and D.M.A. Degrees in Music Composition. A former faculty member of the Oberlin College Conservatory, she resigned from academic employment in 1982 in order to pursue a career as a full-time composer. She now lives on a dairy farm in Braintree, Vermont.
Gwyneth Walker is a proud resident of Vermont. She is the recipient of the Year 2000 "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the Vermont Arts Council as well as the 2008 "Athenaeum Award for Achievement in the Arts and Humanities" from the St. Johnsbury (VT) Athenaeum.
Walker's catalog includes over 180 commissioned works for orchestra, band, chorus and chamber ensembles. The music of Gwyneth Walker is published by E.C. Schirmer of Boston (choral/vocal music) and MMB Music of St. Louis (orchestral/instrumental music).
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), and Scattering Dark and Bright (song cycles recorded by the Walker-Eklof Duo).
In addition to the composing of new works, there has also been a special project of creating orchestral accompaniments for many of the choral and vocal works in the Walker catalog. Thus, Songs for Women’s Voices, I Thank You God, I Will Be Earth, and the song cycle, No Ordinary Woman!, have all been orchestrated. Another new work, A Testament to Peace, combines a number of peace-oriented choral works (Tell the Earth to Shake, The Tree of Peace, and There is a Way to Glory) into a set with chamber orchestra. Coming soon will be an orchestral arrangement of Three Days by the Sea, for the Key Chorale and the Florida West Coast Symphony in Sarasota, FL.
Another special project has been the creation of works for orchestra with narrator. Muse of Amherst (based on the poetry of Emily Dickinson) was recently premiered by the Holyoke (MA) Civic Symphony. An orchestral adaptation of the Walker Acquaintance with Nature (with readings of H. D. Thoreau) will be created for the Carson City (NV) Orchestra.
Composing projects for the Fall of 2008 – Winter of 2009 feature a large-scale work for the Vermont Symphony Orchestra Chorus, an extended work for organ solo (commissioned by the American Guild of Organists for the National AGO Convention in 2010) and two staged works (which are very special, and details will be made available at the appropriate time). It is always the composer's desire to explore a variety of genres, especially those with dramatic potential.
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Top photograph (with cows) and color portrait by Robert Eddy. View press kit for full-size downloadable photos.
The published works of Gwyneth Walker are available for purchase (and/or rental) from the publishers, not from the composer. See the catalog of works for order numbers and contact information for all publishers.
Students doing projects on the music of Gwyneth Walker are directed to first download and read "Guidelines for Student Research on Living Composers" and then consult the Letters, Articles, Essays and Research Documents sections on this site for background information. Questions formed after reading these sections are welcomed. Teacher participation is encouraged.
To contact Walker Music Productions:
By email: music@gwynethwalker.com
By physical mail: 273 Brainstorm Road, Braintree, Vermont 05060-9209
Copyright © 2000-08 Gwyneth Walker Last Updated 18-November-08 webmaster@gwynethwalker.com