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Julia Perry (1924–79)

Julia Perry experienced the conventional musical education available to mid-century American composers: Akron University and Westminster Choir College, Juilliard School of Music and the Berkshire Music Center (now the Tanglewood Music Center), followed by a brief spell, in 1952, studying with Nadia Boulanger in France. Accolades included winning the Boulanger Grand Prize for her Viola Sonata, Guggenheim fellowships and a National Institute of Arts and Letters Award. In addition to choral and vocal music, she wrote twelve symphonies, operas, piano concertos, and chamber pieces. Her oeuvre is particularly interesting because, whilst some of her early works do reference traditional African-American culture by drawing on the music of spirituals, the majority of her output is neo-Classical in style. Deceptively simple melodies belie both dissonant harmony and a complexity of rhythm that rewards attentive listening; Julia Perry is a composer who deserves to be more-frequently heard.

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