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P A N P I P E S Summer 2021 9 C omposer Tania León is the 2021 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Music. León is an SAI National Arts Associate, a member of the SAI Composers Bureau, and was a 2015 Inter-American Music Award (IAMA) composer-judge. e Pulitzer in music is given for a distinguished musical composition by an American that has had its first performance or recording in the United States during that year. Premiered at Lincoln Center in New York City on February 13, 2020 by the New York Philharmonic, León's composition, Stride, is a "musical journey full of surprise, with powerful brass and rhythmic motifs that incorporate Black music traditions from the US and the Caribbean into a Western orchestral fabric" (pulitzer.org). Written in honor of Susan B. Anthony, Stride was part of "Project 19," the Philharmonic's multi-season initiative celebrating the centennial of the 19th Amendment through nineteen commissions by women composers. You can view a rehearsal of the piece online at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=yfuMbD_A6bg When invited to write a work for the New York Philharmonic's Project 19, León researched feminist Susan B. Anthony and said: "I read her biography, her statements. To me it was tremendous to see the inner force that she had. en I started looking for a title before starting the piece — not the way I always do it…I imagined her as a person who did not take "no" for an answer. She kept pushing and pushing and moving forward, walking with firm steps until she got the whole thing done. at is precisely what Stride means. Something that is moving forward." (from the New York Philharmonic's program notes via pulitzer.org) Tania León (b. Havana, Cuba) is highly regarded as a composer, conductor, educator and advisor to numerous arts organizations. She has been the subject of profiles on ABC, CBS, CNN, PBS, BB3, Telemundo, independent films, and Univision, including their noted series "Orgullo Hispano," which celebrates living American Latinos whose contributions in society have been invaluable. In addition to the Pulitzer winning Stride, recent commissions include Anima for Jennifer Koh's "Alone Together" in response to the Coronavirus pandemic; Ritmicas for e Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition's Grossman Ensemble; Ser for the Los Angeles Philharmonic; Pa'lante for the International Contemporary Ensemble and YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles); and Ethos for pianist Ursula Oppens and Cassatt String Quartet. In 1969, Tania León became a founding member and first Music Director of the Dance eatre of Harlem, establishing the Dance eatre's Music Department, Music School and Orchestra. She instituted the Brooklyn Philharmonic Community Concert Series in 1978, and founded the Sampler Concerts series presented by the Whitney Museum of American Art at Atria. In 1994, in her capacity of Latin American Music Advisor, she co-founded the American Composers Orchestra's Sonidos de las Américas festivals. From 1993 to 1997, she was New Music Advisor to Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic. León is the founder and Artistic Director of the nonprofit organization and festival Composers Now, created in New York City in 2010. Composers Now is dedicated to the empowerment of living composers by celebrating the diversity of their voices and honoring the significance of their artistic contributions to the cultural fabric of society. In 2017, a proclamation on behalf of Mayor Bill de Blasio was presented to Composers Now in recognition of their contributions to living composers (composersnow.org). Her honors also include the New York Governor's Lifetime Achievement, awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the ASCAP Victor Herbert Award, among others. SAIS IN THE NEWS 1983 Ellen T. Zwilich (Beta Alpha initiate) for Three Movements for Orchestra 1991 Shulamit Ran (SAI Composers Bureau member) for Symphony 1999 Melinda Wagner for Concerto for Flute, Strings, and Percussion 2010 Jennifer Higdon (SAI Honorary Member) for Violin Concerto 2013 Caroline Shaw for Partita for 8 Voices 2015 Julia Wolfe for Anthracite Fields 2017 Du Yun for Angel's Bone 2019 Ellen Reid for p r i s m 2021 Tania León (SAI National Arts Associate) for Stride WOMEN WHO HAVE WON THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR MUSIC Tania León Wins Pulitzer Prize Visit Tania León's website at: www.tanialeon.com Tania León served as a Composer-Judge for the Inter- Tania León served as a Composer-Judge for the Inter- American Music Awards Competition at the 2015 American Music Awards Competition at the 2015 National Convention in St. Louis. National Convention in St. Louis.

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