Gabriela Lena Frank: Conversation with 2026 Pulitzer Prize-Winning Composer

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Join a free moderated conversation and Q&A with 2026 Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gabriela Lena Frank, named by Musical America as the 2026 Composer of the Year. Jesse J. Sanchez, Associate Producer (Music) at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, moderates a discussion about Frank's career path, work, and experience as a Latina woman in classical music. The conversation explores Frank's multicultural heritage—born in Berkeley to a mother of indigenous Peruvian/Chinese ancestry and a father of Lithuanian/Jewish descent—and how she incorporates Latin American cultures, poetry, mythology, and native musical styles into her compositions. Frank's symphonic piece "Picaflor: A future myth," inspired by climate change, California wildfires, and Andean mythology, won the Pulitzer Prize. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut with "El Ultimo Sueno de Frida y Diego," a collaboration with librettist Nilo Cruz. The Britt Festival Orchestra will premiere Frank's Frida y Diego Suite on June 25th.