Concerto for Flute, Strings and Percussion is presented in a 2000 recording on Bridge Records by the Westchester Philharmonic (conducted by Mark Mandarano) with Paul Lustig Dunkel on flute.
For distinguished musical composition of significant dimension by an American that has had its first performance in the United States during the year, Five thousand dollars ($5,000).
Concerto for Flute, Strings and Percussion, by Melinda Wagner
Premiered on May 30, 1998 by the Westchester Philharmonic in Purchase, New York, and commissioned by that orchestra for Paul Lustig Dunkel.
Columbia University Provost Jonathan R. Cole presents Melinda Wagner with the 1999 Pulitzer Prize in Music.
Winning Work
Biography
Melinda Wagner, born in Philadelphia, received her graduate degrees from the University of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania where she studied with Richard Wernick, George Crumb, Shulamit Ran, and Jay Reise.
Ms. Wagner's orchestral, chamber, and vocal works have been performed by such ensembles as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Denver Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, National Orchestra of Colombia, New York New Music Ensemble, the Syracuse Society for New Music, the Contemporary Chamber Players, and Orchestra 2001. She is the recipient of numerous honors, including a Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, grants from the Illinois Arts Council, three ASCAP Young Composer awards, and resident fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and Yaddo. She has received commissions from the Ernst and Young Emerging Composers Fund for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse, the New York New Music Ensemble, and the Syracuse Society for New Music. Falling Angels, commissioned by the Chicago Symphony and premiered in 1993, was performed there again in 1996 under the AT&T American Encore Program. Current projects include works for the American Brass Quintet and the New York New Music Ensemble.
Melinda Wagner has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmore College, Syracuse University, and Hunter College. She lives in Mount Vernon, New York, with her husband, percussionist James Saporito, and son, Benjamin.
Finalists
Nominated as finalists in Music in 1999:
David Rakowski
Premiered on March 7, 1998 by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
Stanislav Skorwaczewski
Premiered on November 19, 1998 by the Curtis Symphony at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia.
The Jury
The Jury
Gunther Schuller(chair )*
composer/conductor
Leslie Bassett*
composer/professor of music
John Lewis
composer, concert artist
Tim Page*
music critic
Wayne Peterson*
composer
Winners in Music
Aaron Jay Kernis
Premiered on January 10, 1998, at Merkin Concert Hall, New York City, by The Lark Quartet.
Wynton Marsalis
Premiered on January 28, 1997 at Woolsey Hall, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.
George Walker
Premiered on February 1, 1996, in Boston by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and was commissioned by that orchestra.
Morton Gould
Premiered on March 10, 1994, by the National Symphony Orchestra at The John F. Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C..
1999 Prize Winners
Duke Ellington
Bestowed posthumously, commemorating the centennial year of his birth, in recognition of his musical genius, which evoked aesthetically the principles of democracy through the medium of jazz and thus made an indelible contribution to art and culture.
Chuck Philips and Michael A. Hiltzik
For their stories on corruption in the entertainment industry, including a charity sham sponsored by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, illegal detoxification programs for wealthy celebrities, and a resurgence of radio payola.
Staff
For its clear and detailed coverage of a shooting rampage in which a state lottery worker killed four supervisors then himself.