Biography:

Alice Parker (December 16, 1925 – December 24, 2023) was an American composer, arranger, conductor and teacher. She authored five operas, eleven song-cycles, thirty-three cantatas, eleven works for chorus and orchestra, forty-seven choral suites, and more than forty hymns, all original compositions. Also to be noted are wealth of arrangements based on pre-existing folk-songs and hymns, many of which were produced in collaboration with Robert Shaw. Parker was best known for these kinds of arrangements of spirituals, mountain hymns, and folk songs, early-American hymns, and international folk-songs, most notably in French, Spanish, Hebrew, and Ladino.

Early life

Alice Parker was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Mary Stuart and Gordon Parker. She studied music theory with Mary Mason at the New England Conservatory, composition and conducting at Smith College and the Juilliard School, where she began her long and prolific association with Robert Shaw. The many Parker-Shaw settings of American folk songs, hymns, and spirituals form an enduring repertoire for choruses in many countries around the world.^[1][2]

Musical career

Parker attended Smith College, graduating in 1947 with a double major in organ and composition. She went on to study choral conducting at Juilliard, then became a teacher while also collaborating with Robert Shaw on arrangements of materials to be recorded by the Robert Shaw Chorale, formed in 1948.^[1] Parker went on to become the primary arranger for the Robert Shaw Chorale for 20 years. On December 29, 1947, Alice was featured on the cover of Newsweek alongside other singers. The chorale disbanded in 1965.^[3]

In 1954, Parker married Thomas Pyle, a member of the Robert Shaw Chorale. They had five children.^[1] Pyle died unexpectedly in 1976, leaving her to care for their five children.^[3] She moved to western Massachusetts, and, in 1985, she founded Melodious Accord. The Musicians of Melodious Accord is a professional chorus that has released fourteen albums. The Melodious Accord Fellowship Program brought young mid-career musicians from all over the world to study with Parker.^[4]

Parker composed over 500 pieces of music, including operas, song cycles, cantatas, choral suites, and anthems.^[4]

Honors and awards

Parker served on the Board of Directors of Chorus America. She was their first Director Laureate. Among her many awards, Parker received the Distinguished Composer of the Year 2000 by the American Guild of Organists, the 2014 Brock Commission from the American Choral Directors Association, the Harvard Glee Club Foundation Medal in 2015, six honorary doctorates, and the Smith College Medal.^[5] Parker was a Fellow of the Hymn Society of the United States and Canada. She was awarded grants from ASCAP, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and the American Music Center.^[4] Lastly, she was honored by the International Emily Dickinson Society for her choral suite Heavenly Hurt.

To celebrate Parker’s 90th birthday in 2015, choral groups worldwide posted performances of her work on YouTube, as part of a project called Alice Is 90.^[3]

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