Composer Profiles

Gwyneth Walker

Gwyneth Walker

• Hear comments by the composer (2:38) in RealAudio 5 or RealAudio2/14.4.
• Preview An American Concerto, first movement, "A Burst of Energy" (4:05) in RA3/mono or RA3/stereo.
• Preview An American Concerto, second movement, "A Reflection" (9:07) in RA3/mono or RA3/stereo.
• Preview An American Concerto, third movement, "Another Stroll" (4:27) in RA3/mono or RA3/stereo.
• Preview White Horses (3:50) in RA3/mono or RA3/stereo.
• Preview Salem Reel (2:10) in RA2/14.4, TrueSpeech, or MPEG-2.

• Consult the composer's catalog of music.
• Browse the composer's available recordings.
• New! Sample score: Treading on Leaves .

• Read Yes, This is a Business! , an essay by the composer.
• Read Living by Your Craft , an essay by the composer.

• Read Gwyneth Walker To Receive VCA Lifetime Achievement Award by Susan Allen, The Herald of Randolph.
• Read Gwyneth Walker: An American Original by Carson Cooman.
• Read Woman of Words, Woman of Music by Kathy O'Connell, Hartford Advocate.
• Read For Braintree Composer Gwyneth Walker, The Commissions Keep On Coming by Ruth Horowitz, Seven Days.
• Read Gwyneth Walker Comes to Sarasota by Chris Confessore, Assistant Conductor and Education Director, Florida West Coast Symphony.
• Read The Music of the Spheres and Then Some by Steve Metcalf, Hartford Courant.
• Read An Interview with Gwyneth Walker by Gene Brooks, Executive Director, The American Choral Directors Association.
• Read Holyoke Civic Symphony Concert Scheduled Sunday by Donnie Moorehouse, Music Writer, Union-News and Sunday Republican.
• Download Full-size printable version of Gwyneth Walker and the cows photo shown above
• Download Full-size printable version of Gwyneth Walker portrait shot shown below

• Read Original Music Highlight of Jubilee by Donald Thompson.
• Read A New Work Comes on Spring's Breath by Everett Hafner, Daily Hampshire Gazette
• Read a review of I Thank You God is at the Nebraska Music Educators Association site.

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.

Walker's catalog includes over 120 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).

Recent works are Symphony of Grace, a full-length symphony commissioned by a consortium of six orchestras across the United States, and Appalachian Carols for Chorus and Brass Quintet for "Desert Voices" (Tucson, Arizona). In 1999, Dr. Walker accepted the Raymond W. Brock Memorial Commission from the American Choral Directors Association. The new work, I Thank You God (for SSA Chorus and piano), was premiered at the ACDA National Convention in Chicago.

Current works-in-progress include a Concerto for Bassoon and Strings (for Bassoonist Janet Polk of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra), new choral works for the Sierra Women’s Ensemble (Reno, Nevada) and the Chesapeake Chorale (Bowie, Maryland) and a fourth string quartet.

Gwyneth Walker is a proud resident of Vermont. She is the recipient of the Year 2000 "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the Vermont Arts Council. In addition, she has been awarded the Orchestral Commission from the Vermont High School All-State Festival for a new work to celebrate the 25th season of the Festival - 2002.

Photographs by Christian Wideawake courtesy The Rutland Herald

To reach the composer:
Telephone/Fax 212-656-1367
By physical mail: 273 Brainstorm Road, Braintree, Vermont 05060-9209
By email music@gwynethwalker.com