Fresh off winning the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Music, composer Gabriela Lena Frank is returning to Southern Oregon with the premiere of a new orchestral work inspired by two of Mexico's most celebrated artists.
Frank's "Frida e Diego Suite" premieres Thursday, June 25, at the Britt Festival in Jacksonville.
Although Frank is now one of the country's most acclaimed composers, she said her musical education began with an unusually broad range of influences.
Growing up in Berkeley, California, Frank's music was shaped by her Eastern European Jewish, Peruvian Indigenous and Chinese heritage, as well as a wide range of musical traditions. She was immersed in jazz and the American Songbook at home while studying classical music with a South African refugee who introduced her to composers from around the world.
"Alongside Beethoven and Bach, I was getting composers like [Marko] Tajčević from Yugoslavia," Frank said. "I had a very rich exposure to all kinds of arts, literature and music."
Creating a Peruvian 'Rite of Spring'
Frank's Pulitzer-winning composition, "Picaflor: A Future Myth," was commissioned by several organizations and premiered in 2025 before earning the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Music.
The 10-movement orchestral work draws on Peruvian mythology, something Frank wanted to explore through large-scale classical music.
"There's a wonderful origin story around the picaflor (or hummingbird)," Frank said.
In the myth, the hummingbird makes a rip in the sky before falling down to earth.
"It brings a little bit of sun fire with it," she said. "That's what warms up the planet and populates the earth with humans and creatures and civilizations."
Opening doors for the next generation
Frank, who is partially deaf and identifies as a woman of color, said her own experiences have shaped both her music and her commitment to mentoring emerging composers.
She founded the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music to support composers from historically underrepresented backgrounds.
As a female, partially deaf person of color, Frank emphasizes the importance of diverse narratives in music. To that end, she founded the Gabriela Lena Frank Academy to support underrepresented composers.
"I realized that even with the declaration of being one of the most important women composers in history, that I wasn't doing enough," Frank said. "I needed to help open these doors for others."
While she continues to teach at festivals and universities, Frank said creating opportunities for younger composers has become just as important as writing new music.
Frank's new piece, the "Frida e Diego Suite," premieres at the Britt Festival on Thursday, June 25.
