Rackham Alumna Gabriela Lena Frank Wins the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Music

Composer and pianist Gabriela Lena Frank (Ph.D. ’01) has won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Music for Picaflor: A Future Myth, a modern symphony rooted in mythology from her Peruvian heritage, her personal experience with California wildfires, and the environmental urgency of the moment. Commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra and conducted by Marin Alsop, the work follows a heroic hummingbird striving to save Pachamama, Mother Earth, from ecological disaster.

Frank credits her professors and mentors at U-M’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance—William Bolcom, Logan Skelton, and Leslie Bassett—with helping shape the artistic curiosity that has guided her career. Their encouragement to explore Peru, her mother’s homeland, became central to a musical voice that blends Latin American folklore, indigenous traditions, poetry, and classical form.

Her Pulitzer adds to a career marked by major commissions, teaching, advocacy, and a commitment to supporting emerging composers from diverse backgrounds.

Read the full story from the University Record.