zwilich1Today is the birthday of internationally acclaimed American composer, and the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for music, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich.

Liane Curtis and I had the pleasure of meeting Ellen at the 2014 Society for American Music Conference where her tremendous work in composition and education was honored and she was inducted as an honorary member.  (Read more here.)

Ellen is on faculty at Florida State University and her works are recorded on the Naxos label.  Have a listen to the New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble performing Ceremonies: