Alice Parker

PARKER, Alice. b. Boston, 16 December 1925; d. Hawley, Massachusetts, 24 December 2023. Distinguished, widely celebrated composer, conductor, author and teacher, Parker began composing at the age of eight, and completed her first orchestral score in high school.  She studied at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, majoring in music performance and composition (BA 1947), and the Juilliard School of Music, New York City (MS 1949), where her teachers included Robert Shaw (1916-1999), Julius Herford (1901-1981) and Vincent Persichetti (1915-1987). Parker’s remarkable six-decade career included more than 800 published works: 400 anthems, the majority based on hymn tunes, folk melodies and...