Florence Price: A Composer Rediscovered
Join violinist Melissa White for a timely lecture about Florence Price and her Violin Concerto No. 1. A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, and graduate of the prestigious New England Conservatory, Price became the first female Black American composer to have her music performed by a major U.S. orchestra when the Chicago Symphony premiered her Symphony No. 1 in 1933. Despite this acclaim, Price spent the next two decades performing, teaching, and composing in relative obscurity, until her untimely death in 1953. She was mostly forgotten until several of her scores, including two violin concerti, were discovered in 2009 in an abandoned house near St. Anne, Illinois. For Melissa White, Price’s story illustrates how racism and sexism can limit the nature of art and our shared cultural heritage. She will bring Price back, via excerpts from the 1939 violin concerto, never performed during her lifetime.
Lecture only: Tuesday, Sept. 19 | 4:30 p.m. – 6 p.m. | Wilde Auditorium/Harry Jack Gray Center | $25 Register
Lecture + Performance: Tuesday, Sept. 19 | 4:30 p.m. – 6 p.m. | Wilde Auditorium/Harry Jack Gray Center and Sunday, Oct. 22 | 3 p.m. | Hartford Symphony Orchestra/Belding Theater at the Bushnell | $50 Register
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Faculty and staff are eligible to take one Presidents' College lecture for free every semester or to receive a one-session discount ($20) for a longer course. Contact Laurie Fasciano at fasciano@hartford.edu or 860.768.4495.