.

Havana, June 14 (RHC)-- Cuban composer and pianist Tania León was awarded the Pulitzer Prize 2021 in Music for her piece Stride. The New York Philharmonic premiered the work, both solemn and celebratory, in February 2020, as part of its Project 19 initiative, for which it commissioned 19 female composers to honor the centennial of the 19th Amendment, which barred the states from denying women the right to vote.

At the invitation of American dancer and choreographer Arthur Mitchel, she was the founding musical director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

León, now 78, grew up in Cuba. She created a series of memorable orchestral pieces shot through with intricate Latin rhythmic grooves; and became an outspoken advocate for cultural diversity in music. She has also been a path breaking conductor, and currently directs the wide-ranging festival Composers Now.

Tania León has been nominated to the Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards on several occasions.

In Cuba, she conducted the National Symphony Orchestra for the first time during the 29th Havana’s Contemporary Music Festival in 2016. Prior to that, she was invited to the Leo Brouwer Chamber Music Festival.