If you were bummed that you couldn't make it to our Feb. 21 concert at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, you're in luck. A bit of inclement weather meant postponing the Florence Price Chamber Music concert to this Wednesday evening, Mar. 14. The concert, which begins at 7 p.m., is free and open to the public. Simply reserve your seat here.
Engage intimately with music for strings and piano from Arkansas’s rarely performed classical composer Florence Price, a Little Rock native who became the first African-American woman to have her music performed by a major symphony orchestra when the Chicago Symphony premiered her Symphony at the 1933 World’s Fair, with newly discovered works performed by violinist Er-Gene Kahng and friends.
This rarely heard music for strings and piano was handpicked by violinist Er-Gene Kahng. The concert will showcase Price’s singular style: a fusion of American vernacular folk melodies to a deep understanding of the grand European classical canon. The concert builds upon Kahng’s extensive experience as a catalyst for the celebration of this important yet mostly forgotten composer, which includes a world premiere studio recording of Price’s two violin concertos, which The New Yorker music critic Alex Ross calls "Prices best outing on disk to date," adding in his essay on Price that Kahng "plays the solo parts with lustrous tone and glistening facility."
Portrait of Florence Price by Monica Jordan of Paper & Wood Co.