Composer Of The Week

Donald Macleod journeys into the varied musical landscape of Adolphus Hailstork, in conversation with the composer himself.American composer Adolphus Hailstork has written in many genres ranging from orchestral and chamber, to choral, song cycles and operatic scenes. Of African-American heritage and now in his eighties, Hailstork’s works have been performed by major orchestras in Chicago, New York and Philadelphia, and leading conductors have championed his music including Kurt Masur, Daniel Barenboim and Lorin Maazel. Born in 1941, his early instrumental studies included the organ, piano, violin and the voice, but it was his experience both in the Anglican Cathedral tradition, and hearing and singing spirituals, that have had a significant impact upon the development of his own musical language. For many years he’s been a Professor of Music at the Old Dominion University in Norfolk, and he resides in the state of Virginia, USA. His own list of teachers is impressive, not least of all Nadia Boulanger at the A