Ellen Reid, a 36-year-old composer, received the Pulitzer Prize in Music on Monday for her opera I sm. The Pulitzer jury defined the triumphing piece as a “formidable new operatic work that uses sophisticated vocal writing and placing instrumental timbres to confront hard concern depends: the effects of sexual and emotional abuse.” The other finalists have been Sustaining, an orchestral work via Andrew Norman, and Still for solo piano, utilizing James Romig. Reid is the fourth female to earn the prize given in 2013.
Reid’s track in p r I sm is about to a libretto via Roxie Perkins. The paintings, commissioned and co-produced by Beth Morrison Projects, premiered on November 29 on the Los Angeles Opera Off Grand series.
Reached by smartphone Monday afternoon in New York, Reid said she was still in shock on hearing the news of her prize. She had no words to describe it. But she did have loads to say about her Pulitzer-prevailing work within the verbal exchange underneath (which became edited for duration and clarity).
Tom Huizenga: The tale of I SM deals with some tough subjects. Could you tell us more about your idea?
Ellen Reid: The issue be counted of I sm is ready sexual assault, and that is something that occurs to so many people that we started out working on the piece approximately five years in the past, earlier than the #MeToo movement before there has been a sort of shift in considering what it meant to be a survivor. And it felt genuinely vital. It became something that Roxie Perkins, the librettist, and I had both skilled for my part, and it felt like something that we desired to delve into collectively. As you can believe, deepening something complex is genuinely challenging. Something about the piece makes folks who haven’t experienced sexual attacks recognize what it is probably like a little more.
