Florence Price

The new Chineke! Orchestra album celebrating the wonderful life and trailblazing works of Florence Price, on this, the 70th anniversary year of her death. To be released on 23rd June, the album includes Price's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the young piano soloist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, her award-winning Symphony No. 1, and His Resignation and Faith from Ethiopia's Shadow in America, which is a necessary and long-overdue tribute to the composer's remarkable contributions to classical music.

In 1933, Florence Price's 'Symphony No. 1' was the first symphonic work by a Black woman to be played by a major American orchestra. Steeped in American folk music, spirituals, and church hymns, Price's celebrated work reflects her experience as a Black woman raised in the post-Civil War South. Florence Price composed her 'Third Symphony' in the midst of the Chicago Renaissance and it reflects her growth as a composer, taking more risks, adding modern techniques, and expanding emotional elements as compared to her more traditional 'First Symphony'. The 2 symphonies, played by the Philadelphia Orchestra and conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, were recorded in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia in early 2021.

Michael Clark’s knowledge and reverence for Florence Price shines in WALTZES & CHARACTER PIECES OF FLORENCE PRICE. Opening with the first waltz in Price’s musical catalog, Valsette Mignon, and closing with one of her final waltzes, Waltzing on a Sunbeam, Clark’s respect and intimate understanding of these elegant piano works is evident in his delicate treatment of each passage down to the single note. The sheer musicality Clark presents in the rolling melodic line of character pieces such as Dreamboat and Barcarolle honors Price’s work in a way that both uplifts and exceeds expectations. Clark hopes that the fragment of her vast repertoire showcased in WALTZES & CHARACTER PIECES OF FLORENCE PRICE will implore listeners to further explore her works, continuing to give Price her long overdue flowers.

Hailed by The Times for its ‘exhilarating performances’, the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective was dreamed up in 2017 by Tom Poster and Elena Urioste, who met through the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme. The Collective operates with a flexible roster which features many of today’s most inspirational musicians, both instrumentalists and singers, and its creative programming is marked by an ardent commitment to celebrating diversity of all forms and a desire to unearth lesser\-known gems of the repertoire. This ethos is clear in their repertoire selection for this their début recording. The Piano Quintet is one of Amy Beach’s better\-known works, which the KCC collectively fell in love with during a residency at the Cheltenham festival. Composed in 1907, the work reflects the strong influence of the music of Brahms.

There’s much to admire in Randall Goosby’s debut concerto recording. This star pupil of Itzhak Perlman possesses a beautifully warm and tender sound, as well as delivering technically immaculate playing that easily surmounts the most challenging daredevil passagework in the two Florence Price concertos.

The Philadelphia Orchestra and its Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin continue their pioneering project to revive neglected music by Black American composers. Their latest recording, set for digital release on 15 September, presents Florence Price’s Symphony No. 4 and William Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony, a work premiered by The Philadelphia Orchestra back in 1934.