People have been wondering for years when Steve Reich would finally be given a Pulitzer prize. He has been a finalist three times (for You Are (Variations) in 2005, for Cello Counterpoint in 2004 , and for Three Tales in 2003) and this year he finally won. The piece is Double Sextet, and it was premiered March 26, 2008 in Richmond, VA. The New York premiere was on April 17th.
Here’s a video of Eighth Blackbird in a recording session for the piece:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60Rji3yhRs8[/youtube]
The jury for the music Pulitzer this year was John Schaefer (WNYC), Dwight Andrews (Emory University) Justin Davidson (New York Magazine), Anthony Davis (University of California-San Diego), and David Lang, (Bang on a Can). David was, of course, last year’s winner.
Update: Oops, Jerry beat me too this by 10 minutes. I’ll leave this up anyway, since it’s got details and video.