Pulitzer Prizes Awarded To Los Angeles Times, Incoming LA Chamber Orchestra Creative Advisor

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — California's biggest newspaper was recognized this week with a Pulitzer Prize for its reporting on the USC gynecologist scandal, but so was a lesser-known composer who will soon become the creative advisor and composer-in-residence at the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

Ellen Reid says she was "blown away and incredibly honored" to receive the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in music in a Instagram post that shows her a little disheveled, but very excited.

The Pulitzer Prize committee calls Reid's "p r i s m" a "bold new operatic work that uses sophisticated vocal writing and striking instrumental timbres to confront difficult subject matter: the effects of sexual and emotional abuse."

The prize is shared with librettist Roxie Perkins.

"Composing p r i s m was a challenging, rewarding and deeply personal experience, and I hope this opera will help shed light on the experience of surviving sexual assault," Reid wrote on Instagram. "While Roxie and I did not plan for the timeliness of the subject matter, I am so grateful that it has resonated with audiences."

In a nod to the special citation posthumously awarded to singer Aretha Franklin, Reid added, "Now I'm going to listen to some Aretha to celebrate!"

Reid, who lives in Los Angeles and New York, will start a three-year appointment as Creative Advisor and Composer-in-Residence for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra this fall. Current Creative Adviser Andrew Norman was a finalist for the same prize for a second time.

For their reporting on George Tyndall, the former USC gynecologist accused of sexually abusing his female patients during his decades-long tenure, the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting was awarded to Matt Hamilton, Harriet Ryan and Paul Pringle of the Los Angeles Times. The Pulitzer board called the coverage "consequential reporting on a University of Southern California gynecologist accused of violating hundreds of young women for more than a quarter-century."

In:
• Pulitzer Prize
• Los Angeles
• Los Angeles Times