A graduate of Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.), he was admitted to the Oberlin Conservatory at fourteen, and later to the Curtis Institute of Music to study piano with Rudolf Serkin, chamber music with William Primrose and Gregor Piatigorsky, and composition with Rosario Scalero, teacher of Samuel Barber.

[6] In 1996, Walker became the first black composer to receive the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his work, Lilacs for voice and orchestra, premiered by the Boston Symphony, Seiji Ozawa conducting.

Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry proclaimed June 17, 1997, as "George Walker Day" in the nation's capital.

[7] In 1997, Walker was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt.

[14] Unwilling to conform to a specific style, Walker drew from his diverse knowledge of previous music to create something which he could call his own.

[15] While a work such as Spatials for Piano uses twelve-tone serial techniques,[16] Walker could also compose in the style of popular music such as in his song “Leaving.”[17] According to Mickey Terry, traces of old black spirituals can also be found in his Violin Sonata No.