The Pulitzer Prize for music went to Pennsylvania native Julia Wolfe's "Anthracite Fields."
Wolfe's work, described by judges as a "powerful oratorio for chorus and sextet," was composed after a year's study of the Pennsylvania coal mining industry at the turn of the 20th Century, near where Wolfe grew up in Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania.
"I'm definitely shell-shocked," Wolfe, 56, said from her home in New York City. She describes herself as a musical renegade, with inspirations that come from folks, classical and rock, and said she hopes the award can inspire other musicians to follow dreams that follow unconventional paths.
- LISTEN: "Anthracite Fields" Movement IV
The Pulitzer Prize for fiction, drama and other categories were also handed out Monday.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
