Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1

The Philadelphia Orchestra

Yannick Nézet-Séguin Conductor

Program includes:

Price Symphony No. 1—First Complete Philadelphia Orchestra Performance

When Marian Anderson sang her landmark concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939, she concluded with a spiritual arranged by Florence Price, then a practically unheard-of composer. Just a few years earlier, Price had become the first African-American woman to have a symphonic work performed by a major American orchestra. The hardships of Price’s unlikely journey from a post-Civil War South to the stage of the Chicago Symphony are summed up in one of her letters: “I have two handicaps—those of sex and race. I am a woman; and I have some Negro blood in my veins.” This November, experience The Philadelphia Orchestra’s first performance of Price’s groundbreaking Symphony No. 1.

Please note: All Digital Stage events begin with a performance premiere, streaming in real time. Following the performance premiere, the concert will be available for ticket holders to watch on demand for 72 hours.