WAPS COMPOSER OF THE WEEK

  Don't forget to leave a comment. British composer Errollyn Wallen writes amazing music that is a joy to hear!  She was born in Belize in 1958, but moved to the U.K. when she was two.  She studied dance and music while in school. Currently, Ms. Wallen is Master of The Kings Music , a very high honor in the United Kingdom. She is also the very first Black woman to be featured in The Proms ! She was asked to create new music for the event this year, 2025. Here are some examples of her music Peace on Earth Concerto Grosso Chrome for Brass Band Mighty River The composer talks about her Piano Concerto Piano Concerto (part I) Mighty River  (with the composer and conductor explaining the music)

Don't forget to leave a comment with name and homeroom. American composer Steve Reich uses Ostinatos in almost all of his music. He took piano lessons as a child but did not decide on a career in music until he was in college. Reich said this about his inspiration: "I became a composer because I'd heard the  Rite of Spring  of  Stravinsky , I'd heard  Bach 's Fifth Brandenburg (concerto), I'd heard bebop —  Charlie Parker ,  Miles Davis  — music that had a lot of rhythmic energy, music which was finally harmonic. I know the  Rite of Spring 's harmonic quality is not that of Charlie Parker. Neither are they that of Johann Sebastian Bach. But they all had what Stravinsky called the magnetic attraction, the polaric attraction of sound." (NPR-2016) He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, introducing the use of pre-recorded music in a concert and the use of ostinatos. Radiohead gives ...