Pulitzer-winning composer Michael Colgrass dies at 87
Posted July 4, 2019 10:02 am.
TORONTO — Award-winning Toronto composer Michael Colgrass has died at age 87.
His wife says the American-born writer and music educator died Tuesday after a battle with skin cancer.
Having got his start as a Chicago jazz drummer, Colgrass won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1978 for “Deja Vu,” commissioned by the New York Philharmonic.
Colgrass was well known for his compositions for wind ensembles, and wrote music for orchestras in Toronto, Ottawa, Boston, Washington and San Francisco.
He also developed a system to teach children to write music through graphics, which he shared at schools in Toronto and Nova Scotia.
Colgrass is survived by his wife, Ulla, and their son, Neal.
The Canadian Press
