From Unknown to Multiple Grammy Nominee: Composer Julia Perry

Join Boston Landmarks Orchestra for our second From the Podium Talk featuring Maestro Christopher Wilkins discussing composer Julia Perry.

For Landmarks Orchestra's next From the Podium talk, Maestro Christopher Wilkins will discuss the life and work of Julia Perry (1924-1979), a distinguished Black female composer whose music has been nominated for multiple Grammy Awards. Perry was a composer, conductor, singer, violinist, and pianist. She studied composition at Tanglewood and with the legendary Nadia Boulanger. She won two prestigious Guggenheim fellowships a National Arts and Letters Award, and the honor of having her music performed and recorded by the New York Philharmonic.

Sadly, Perry’s work fell into obscurity after her death at age 55. But it has recently been rediscovered, thanks in part to the advocacy of Maestro Wilkins and Dr. Louise Toppin, who has appeared as a soloist with Landmarks. After many years of musical research, genealogical sleuthing, and legal…