Composer Tania León Wins Columbia University’s William Schuman Award

Tania León has received the $75,000 lifetime achievement prize for her significant contribution to the arts

Established in 1981, the Columbia University School of the Arts’ William Schuman Award recognizes the achievements of an American composer whose works have been widely performed and are of lasting significance.

As the 2025 recipient, the Cuban-American composer Tania León will receive an unrestricted grant of $75,000. 

She is the 10th recipient of this award; previous winners include John Luther Adams, Pauline Oliveros, John Zorn, Steve Reich, Hugo Weisgall, Milton Babbitt, Gunther Schuller, David Diamond, and William Schuman.

León currently serves as Composer-in-Residence with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and was previously Carnegie Hall’s Composer’s Chair for its 2023/24 season. In 2021, she became the first Latin American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Music, and in 2022, she was a Kennedy Center Honoree. 

She has received numerous honorary doctorates and is also the first woman to be awarded the highest composition prize conferred by Spain, the XIX Premio SGAE for Iberian American Music Tomás Luis de Victoria. 

Her works have been commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, London Philharmonic, Gewandhausorchester, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, and many artists, including Jennifer Koh, Julia Bullock, and Alisa Weilerstein. As an educator, León has guest-lectured and served as Visiting Professor at Harvard University, Yale University, The University of Chicago, Musikschule in Hamburg, and more. 

Having also studied conducting with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa, León has guest conducted ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille, and the Gewandhausorchester. 

The William Schuman Award will be presented to León at a concert at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre on September 25, 2025. 

The performance program will feature León’s works spanning nearly four decades of her compositional output, including two New York premieres performed by flutist Claire Chase and Bergamot String Quartet.

“We are thrilled to celebrate Tania León and her remarkable contributions to American classical music," said Melissa Smey, Executive Director of Miller Theatre at Columbia University. “Tania is one of my favorite composers, and a warm, thoughtful, and deeply generous colleague who has built and supported a vibrant community of musicians and composers. We first worked together on a Miller Theatre Composer Portrait of her music in 2004, and it is a true honor to collaborate with her again for this well-deserved award concert.”

“Tania León is a living treasure and a force of nature,” expressed Chris Washburne, Chair of the Department of Music at Columbia University. “Through her unique and exceptional artistry, as well as her advocacy for living American composers including those of the Latin American diaspora, she has reshaped and elevated the new music scene in the United States and beyond. Her ongoing legacy — including her long history of music-making and social engagement in Harlem, Columbia’s own neighborhood — is felt both globally and within our campus walls. The Music Department congratulates Maestra León on yet another well-deserved accolade.”

“It is a great privilege in my role as Dean of the School of the Arts to name Tania León as the 2025 recipient of the William Schuman Award,” added Dean Sarah Cole. “This honor is a reflection of her life-long devotion to creativity, artistic expression, and innovation — and I can think of no one more deserving of this recognition.”