In 1950, Walker signed with National Concert Artists but was quickly discouraged: In one instance, after an audition for the Ravinia festival, Walker was told, “ Well, maybe we can arrange for you to play Rhapsody in Blue.” iii That was only one aspect of the discrimination he faced: the other being outright exclusion. It’s a stereotyping that is sort of endemic.” iii That if you’re in music, you must play jazz. “It’s the first thing that comes to most peoples’ mind. Though an accomplished performer, Walker often found himself pigeonholed into playing certain repertoire on grounds of his race. Maybe we can arrange for you to play Rhapsody in Blue. Walker became the first Black instrumentalist to play in New York Town Hall as well as the first Black pianist to perform as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. “ iiĭespite his interest in composition, his focus remained on his dream of becoming a concert pianist. I especially had a flair for canonic writing. I could manipulate musical materials within the rules very quickly and get the maximum result. “I discovered that composing came extremely easily to me. Instead, he discovered his creativity and talent for counterpoint. Walker’s frustrations led him to begin composition lessons with Rosario Scalero to better understand music from a theoretical perspective. But in Chopin, Liszt, or Rachmaninoff he had practically nothing to say about tone color, rubato, or pedaling.” i Composing came extremely easily to me. “In his favorite works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert, his comments were occasionally insightful: especially as regards rhythmic relationships and dynamics. But Walker often disagreed with Serkin’s approach. After obtaining his bachelor’s degree at 18, he began his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music with legendary pianist Rudolf Serkin. Walker had found his love for the piano at age 5 and by the time he was 15, was given a scholarship to the Oberlin Conservatory.
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