DANCING IN THE SUN

WITH DEMARRE MCGILL

JULIA TAI, CONDUCTOR

The first African-American woman composer to earn national recognition, Florence Price focused her compositions on the Black American Experience. The title of her “Dances in the Canebrakes” refers to the wild cane cleared from marshes by the enslaved to make way for cotton, and to the music they made to lift each other’s spirits. Mozart‘s exuberant flute concerto was written when the young composer traveled to Mannheim, soaking up the new possibilities of a great orchestra of his time and falling in love for the first time. Mendelssohn‘s quintessential sunshine symphony – the Italian – will close the program.

PROGRAM:

Price: Dances in the Canebrakes

Mozart: Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major 

Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4, op. 90 A major “Italian”