Born in New Rochelle, New York, Tower grew up in South America, where her father was a mining engineer. Returning to the United States at eighteen, she attended Bennington College and Columbia University, where she received a doctorate in composition. A founding member of the Da Capo Chamber Players, she played piano and composed for the group for fifteen years. She currently teaches at Bard College in New York.

Tower’s six works titled Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman are dedicated to “women who take risks and who are adventurous.” She  says the title “was inspired by Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man.”

The sixth fanfare was commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and its music director, Marin Alsop, in celebration of the Orchestra’s Centennial Season. It was first performed on May 7, 2016. The work was originally composed in 2014 for solo piano, dedicated to composer Tania Leon, and later arranged for full orchestra. 

“Here Tower projects a galvanic Stravinsky-esque demeanor,” writes Ellen Grolman. “This is a compelling, stormy work that ends triumphantly. Although it prominently features brass and percussion, Fanfare No. 6 is more overture than fanfare.” 

~Notes by Charley Samson, copyright 2024