George Walker: Five Sinfonias

National Symphony Orchestra; Gianandrea Noseda, conductor

The National Symphony Orchestra’s “compelling recordings” (The New York Times) celebrate the orchestra’s connection to George Walker—the first African American composer to receive a Pulitzer Prize and a D.C. native—and honors his centennial, which was in 2022. Paying tribute to Walker’s legacy is particularly special for the National Symphony Orchestra given the mutual connection to their home city, and a unique history of collaboration and commissions.

In January 2022, the National Symphony Orchestra and Music Director, Gianandrea Noseda, started performing and recording the complete sinfonias of composer George Walker (1922–2018). This recording cycle—released in September 2023—concluded with an album featuring all five of George Walker’s sinfonias.

“The National Symphony Orchestra’s compelling recordings […] should widen the awareness that this composer is a major American voice.”

The New York Times

“The orchestra also released a brilliant recording of [Walker’s Sinfonia No. 4] last July and performed it in January 2022 as part of its Beethoven and American Masters festival. ”

The Washington Post

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“Beyond serving to further spread the word about Walker, the new set demonstrates what a fine rapport Noseda has built with his players in Washington, D.C… and the orchestra rises to meet its opportunities and demands with power and refinement. [Noseda's] faith in Walker’s stature is a gift to listeners everywhere.”

Steve Smith
Night After Night: Album of the Week

About George Walker

A native of Washington, D.C., George Walker (b. 1922) was a child prodigy. He enrolled in Oberlin Conservatory at age 14 and received his bachelor of music degree with highest honors at the age of 18. He subsequently studied piano with Rudolf Serkin and composition with Rosario Scalero at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he became the first Black student to receive the Artist Diploma (in both piano and composition, 1945). This accomplishment marked the beginning of a steady procession of “firsts” that followed Walker throughout his career. That same year, Walker’s New York debut in Town Hall, sponsored by Efrem Zimbalist and his wife, made him the first Black instrumentalist to play a recital in that hall. As the winner of the Philadelphia Youth Auditions, Walker also became the first Black soloist to perform with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy. In 1950, under the aegis of National Concert Artists, he became the first Black instrumentalist to obtain major concert management. And in 1956, he became the first Black student to receive the Doctor of Musical Arts degree (in piano) from the Eastman School of Music.

Walker was the recipient of several fellowships and awards, among them a Fulbright in 1957 that enabled him to study at the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, where he was a student of Nadia Boulanger and Robert Casadesus. Other fellowships include the John Hay Whitney Fellowship (1958), two Guggenheim Fellowships (1969 and 1987), three Rockefeller Fellowships (1971, 1972, and 1975), and two Koussevitsky Fellowships (1988 and 1998). He was also the recipient of the Harvey Gaul Prize (1963) and the Rhea Sosland Chamber Music Award (1967). Perhaps most significantly, Walker holds the distinction of being the first Black composer to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for music (April 1996), for his composition Lilacs for Voice and Orchestra.

Life In Time

George Walker Firsts

Timeline

“The National Symphony Orchestra is recorded live in immediate, detailed sound, and Noseda’s approach to these modernist works is both meticulous and frequently gripping. […] highly recommended for anyone wanting to enter Walker’s rewarding and individual sound world.”

Musical America

Meet the Photographer

Photographer

Frank Schramm

Frank Schramm is a photographer and filmmaker celebrated for his portraits of musicians and artists. His work encompasses a wide range of subjects which he documents meticulously, sometimes over the span of several years. A boundless curiosity and obsession with the technical and formal qualities of his subject matter challenge him to document the familiar in new and unexpected ways. His work is held in many permanent collections including the Metropolitan Museum (New York), Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery (Washington), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles County Museum, The Library of Congress, Victoria and Albert Museum (London), Bibliothèque nationale de France (Paris), and the Musée de l’Elysée (Lausanne).

In His Own Words; Documenting George Walker:
I had the great honor and unexpected privilege to document George Walker’s life for over 14 years. I met George after hearing one of his works on the radio back in 2004 and reached out to him the same evening to see if I could get a copy of his Sinfonia No. 3 for Orchestra which was performed by the Detroit Symphony. I did not realize that he in fact we lived in the same town, Montclair, New Jersey, until he personally hand-delivered a cassette recording, dropping it through my front door mail slot. George and I became very close friends, and I assisted him in many of his projects.

Even though he won the Pulitzer Prize and was the first African American to do so, it was a continual uphill effort for him to make contact with orchestras and have his works performed. George shared with me many times his running into “Dead ends!” in his efforts to be recognized as a classical composer. He was frequently confronted with stereotypical questions; “Are you a jazz pianist?” Is your music “Jazz oriented?” During the 14 years I spent documenting George Walker, I felt that God had placed me in the serendipitous presence of a great genius; one who became a very close friend. In 2017, I made a short film “Discovering George Walker,” which had its world premiere at the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland presented at the festival Les Nuits des Images. I also worked with George in making a video which is a projection for his now final work, Sinfonia No. 5 “Visions” for Orchestra.

“The sinfonias of George Walker have been an extraordinary musical discovery for me. They are concise in expression, rigorous in structure, and they have their own unique sound world. I am certain that the performances we are giving will result in recordings which confirm that George Walker is one of the great composers of recent times.”

Gianandrea Noseda
NSO Music Director

George Walker: Five Sinfonias

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