‘Hoopla’ over a Pulitzer winner

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2005 | 7:37 a.m.

What: "Las Vegas Philharmonic Concert II: Fantastic Philharmonic -- Themes and Variations"

When: 8 p.m. Saturday.

Where: UNLV's Artemus Ham Hall.

Tickets: $25, $45, $66.

Information: 895-2787.

It's unfair to label a man after one conversation, but given the consistently pragmatic tenor of composer George Walker, it's difficult not to.

He's humble, practical, modest.

This, despite winning the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for music for his voice and orchestra composition "Lilacs," his various piano recordings and his more than 90 published works.

On winning the Pulitzer, he says: "The idea of the Pulitzer is nothing more than the idea of submitting something for a competition. Anybody could submit."

On creativity: "If there is inspiration -- I hate that word -- it's self-determination of where I want to be. I'm not very imaginative. I'm not very inspired."

On composing: "The effort is frustrating. Certainly when one is finished, there is satisfaction, exhilaration."

Las Vegans will have a chance to hear the debut of one of his projects when the Las Vegas Philharmonic performs "Hoopla (A Touch of Glee)" at 8 p.m. Saturday at UNLV's Artemus Ham Hall.

The piece is one of three commissioned compositions written for the Las Vegas Centennial. Walker's piece follows the July premiere of Richard McGee's "Las Vegas Rhapsody" and the September debut of Dan Welcher's "Jackpot: A Celebratory Overture for Large Orchestra."

Hal Weller, Las Vegas Philharmonic conductor and music director, says that "Hoopla" is a challenge.

"It would really take more than one hearing for people to understand what George Walker has up his sleeve," Weller said. "It's very rhythmic, but not in any conventional sense at all."

"The only time the whole orchestra is used is for the last note."

But rhythmic inventiveness is what sets Walker apart from other composers, Weller says, citing Walker's "Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra" as one example.

Walker's works are praised as powerful, original, lyrically beautiful or intense; occasionally haunting or dramatic.

When composing, Walker says that he doesn't tinker. He writes a piece from beginning to end.

And as a contemporary composer with a distinctive sound, Walker knows that audiences are not always ready to embrace new music.

"It's always difficult, and the audience turnout is appallingly bad and there is a remarkable effort to make people aware of what's going on," he said.

While at the piano, Walker doesn't mess around -- doesn't play rock 'n' roll; doesn't play jazz. He says he's somewhat of an audiophile, but he doesn't like to call himself one.

He doesn't mind being referred to as the first black composer to win the Pulitzer Prize, but is adamantly against being referred to as an African-American. If there need be any geographic attachment to his heritage, he says he'd rather the reference be to the West Indies, where his father is from.

Mostly, Walker said, "I've always tried to stress the importance of serious black composers. The worst situation is what is not written for textbooks."

The 83-year-old Walker retired more than 10 years ago from Rutgers, where he taught advanced theory courses, music history, orchestration, conducting and musical composition. He was inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of fame in 2000.

Walker was born in Washington, D.C., to a physician father and pianist mother and was musically encouraged at an early age.

At 15 he entered Oberlin Conservatory of Music, then studied at the American Academy in Fontainebleau before receiving a doctorate from the Eastman School of Music in 1957.

As a young pianist, he toured Europe in the 1950s. His first important piece was "Lyric for Strings," which, written early in his career, he dedicated to his grandmother.

"Lilacs" was based on Walt Whitman's "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed" and was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Winning the Pulitzer Prize brought a lot of attention to Walker, who said that he had print and television media lined up outside his house for two days.

In explaining "Hoopla," he said, "The piece is not overtly ostentatious. There is thematic material that is easy to follow or identify. It has a somewhat restrained celebratory quality to it.

"At least the title suggests there was room for celebration."

Again, subdued.

Walker will be in Las Vegas for the premiere of "Hoopla."

"I like to be able to hear what I have composed validated," Walker said. "There are things that one hears that one didn't anticipate."

Kristen Peterson can be reached at 259-2317 or at kristen@lasvegassun.com.