Categories
20th Century Contemporary American

TOWER, Joan

Joan Tower
Portrait of Joan Tower by Bernard Mindich, courtesy of Wise Music Classical.

Born in New Rochelle, NY, Sept 6, 1938 

  • Tower studied composition at Bennington College and Columbia University. She has taught at Bard College since 1972.1
  • Tower’s early works were serialist (influences included Milton Babbit), but since 1976 her work has moved in a more tonal direction.2
  • Major honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship (1977), acknowledgement at the 2009 Kennedy Center Gala for Women in the Arts,3 and a Grammy award for her one-movement symphonic work Made in America (2008).4

Faculty biography from Bard College 

Biography from Wise Music Classical 

Sources

  1. Ellen K. Grolman, “Tower, Joan,” Grove Music Online (January 31, 2014), accessed February 24, 2022, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002258544.
  2. Ibid.
  3. Ibid.
  4. “About Joan Tower,” Bard College, accessed February 24, 2022, https://music.bard.edu/faculty/joan-tower/. 

Pieces