by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•Today: Cleveland Trombone Seminar recital featuring Peter Ellefson (pictured)
•Announcements: a South Arts workshop on the role of arts in climate adaptation and migration, a fiddle workshop with Paul Kirk at The Music Settlement, University of Akron’s TubaSummer 2024, and a new face in the band program at U of A
•Almanac: Florence Price
HAPPENING TODAY:
The Cleveland Trombone Seminar continues today at 5:30 at CSU’s Drinko Recital Hall with a recital by Indiana University trombone professor Peter Ellefson, joined by pianist Joanna Huang. Their program includes music by Jean-Michel Defaye, Derek Bourgeois, Friedebald Gräfe, Leslie Bricusse, Marvin Hamlisch, and Ennio Morricone. Click here for tickets.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
South Arts will present a free virtual workshop titled “The Role of the Arts in Climate Adaptation and Migration” on June 12 from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm. “This presentation provides an introduction to climate adaptation and migration in addition to strategies and resources to help prepare communities to welcome newcomers, whether they are climate migrants, refugees, or immigrants.” Register here. A recording of the session will be made available afterwards at southarts.org.
The Music Settlement will present fiddler Paul Kirk in a free workshop exploring bowing techniques on June 15 from 1:00 to 2:30 pm. Traditional fiddlers and classical violinists are encouraged to attend. More information here.
The University of Akron School of Music welcomes tuba and euphonium players of all ages and abilities to TubaSummer 2024, an event on August 4 at 7:00 pm celebrating summer with music ranging from polkas to patriotic sing-alongs. Registration takes place at 4:30 pm in Guzzetta Hall, and a rehearsal will be held at 5:30. Sheet music is provided.
Another piece of news from U of A is that Michelle Bell (left) has been named Assistant Director of the Bands and Director of Athletic Bands. Bell has previously taught at Emory & Henry College and St. Cloud State University, and she holds the rank of captain in the Army National Guard.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
by Daniel Hathaway
On this date in 1953, African American composer Florence Price died in Chicago at the age of 69, leaving behind a legacy of some 300 works. Dozens of her scores escaped destruction when they were discovered in 2009 in an abandoned house in St. Anne, IL.
Born in 1887, Price grew up as Florence Beatrice Smith in the integrated city of Little Rock, Arkansas, just a few houses away from William Grant Still. She attended the New England Conservatory in Boston, originally enrolling as a piano and organ major, but she later convinced conservatory director George Whitefield Chadwick to take her on as a composition student.
Returning to Little Rock, she married attorney Thomas J. Price in 1912, and after racial tensions flared up in her hometown, moved to Chicago with her husband and two daughters in 1927. There, she won the Wanamaker Competition for her first symphony, which was debuted by Frederick Stock and the Chicago Symphony in 1933 on a concert of music by black composers during the World’s Fair.
Price’s life and career have been captured in The Caged Bird, a 57-minute documentary produced in 2015 by the University of Arkansas. “Price’s remarkable achievements during the racist ‘Jim Crow’ era were a testament to her gifts. This is the inspiring story of one woman’s triumph over prejudice and preconceptions.” Watch a 15-minute excerpt here (a DVD is available for purchase).
Click here to listen to a 2011 performance of her Symphony No. 1 in e by the New Black Repertory Ensemble, led by Leslie B. Dummer. And here to watch a video of Price’s Symphony No, 3 in c played by the Yale Symphony Orchestra in 2016 under Toshiyuki Shimada.
Peter Ellefson photo by Todd Rosenberg