Georgetowner.com: NSO: The programs in January 2022 are dedicated to Beethoven and two great 20th-century American composers, George Walker and William Grant Still

George Walker (1922-2018)

William Grant Still (1895-1978)

The Georgetowner

January 12, 2022

By Kate Oczypok

Featured Q&A: Music Director Gianandrea Noseda, who will be conducting the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) this month.  

GEORGETOWN MEDIA GROUP: Tell us more about the programs you are conducting in D.C. this month.  

GIANANDREA NOSEDA: The programs in January 2022 are dedicated to Beethoven and two great 20th-century American composers, George Walker and William Grant Still. The idea is to explore the development of symphonic form since it was Beethoven who reshaped the symphony in a way that affected everyone from Schubert to Brahms and Mahler to Shostakovich. D.C. native George Walker—the first Black composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music—and William Grant Still—the first Black composer to have a symphony performed by a leading orchestra—also felt Beethoven’s profound influence so it will be fascinating for audiences to hear how Beethoven, Walker, and Grant Still inform and enlighten one another.