The Merry Month of May for Women in Music!
May 2026 has been bursting with wonderful news for women in music. First came the Pulitzer Prize in Music awarded to Gabriela Lena Frank for her work “Picaflor: A Future Myth,” a 10-movement symphonic work. The composer drew on Incan mythology telling the story of a hummingbird trying to save a future world from ecological disaster. Commissioned and premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the performance was conducted by Marin Alsop. The work was grounded in her California experience living on a farm near Mendocino close to the devastating Camp fire of 2018. While receiving the news of her Pulitzer Prize award, Ms. Frank was at the Metropolitan Opera where rehearsals for her opera “ El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego , ” were happening prior to its opening. The opera is based upon the relationship between Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. The Pulitzer Prize in Music was established in 1943 with the first award going to William Schuman. Ms. Fran...