Andy Akiho, Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti named Pulitzer Prize finalists
Andy Akiho (photo by Da Ping Luo), left, and Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti
Yale School of Music alums Andy Akiho ’11MM and Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti ’08MM were finalists for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Music. Akiho’s suite Seven Pillars, which was commissioned and premiered in December 2021 by Sandbox Percussion (YSM alums Jonathan Allen ’13MM ’14AD, Victor Caccese ’13MM, Ian Rosenbaum ’10MM ’11AD, and Terry Sweeney ’15MM), was described by the Pulitzer jury as “an ambitious extension of traditional American percussion writing that, in 11 movements, combines sensuous timbres, an agile command of rhythm, and a wide span of international influences.”
Lanzilotti’s with eyes the color of time, a work that was commissioned and premiered in August 2021 by the String Orchestra of Brooklyn, is “a vibrant composition, inspired by works in The Contemporary Museum in Honolulu, that distinctly combines experimental string textures and episodes of melting lyricism,” the jury, which included John Luther Adams, Tania León, Alex Ross, Patrice Rushen, and Du Yun, said.
The 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Music was awarded to Raven Chacon for Voiceless Mass, which the jury called “a mesmerizing, original work for organ and ensemble that evokes the weight of history in a church setting, a concentrated and powerful musical expression with a haunting visceral impact.”
Read about the Pulitzer Prize in Music here.
