Has Winning the Pulitzer Made a Difference? Christopher Rouse, Winner of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize in Music

Christopher Rouse Photo by Alex Irvin, courtesy Aspen Music Festival

I think the Pulitzer can have a variety of effects on a career. In my own case, I don’t believe it changed much; the number of commissions and performances of my music have remained about the same in my pre-Pulitzer and post-Pulitzer periods. However, I feel that the Prize, with its concomitant cachet, HAS opened a few doors for me outside of the strictly “classical” music world.

[Hear a sample of Christopher Rouse’s Pulitzer Prize winning piece in our Sonic Gallery of the Pulitzer Prize.]