For My Brother’s Wedding (Music for Organ) (1974)

Sorrel Hays (1941–2020) — For My Brother’s Wedding (Music for Organ) (1974)

American composer and pianist Sorrel Hays (1941–2020) was born in Memphis, Tennessee and was educated at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, the Hochschule für Musik in Munich (Germany), and the University of Wisconsin in Madison. In 1971, she won the first prize for interpretation at the Gaudeamus Competition in Rotterdam and began an active career as a new music pianist. She was particularly renowned for her interpretations of the music of Henry Cowell and John Cage. Hays’s catalog as a composer encompasses works in numerous genres, from orchestral and chamber music to many significant electronic works. She was an early pioneer in the use of Buchla synthesizer. Her operas have been performed around the world and her book “Touching Sound, Living Lullabies” explores the effects of sound on the body through studies of traditional lullabies. Hays was a trailblazer in the efforts for gender parity for women in music and achieved important gains with the inclusion of women in the structures and projects of significant cultural institutions.