Price, Florence

Florence Price was born in Little Rock in 1887 and died in Chicago in 1953. Florence Price was an American classical composer. Price is considered the first African American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer and the first to have a composition played by a major orchestra. Price composed over 300 works: four symphonies, four concertos, as well as choral works, art songs, chamber music, and music for solo instruments. In 2009, an extensive collection of her works and papers was found in her abandoned summer home. Her distinctive, expressive, imaginative, influential, and enduring music is still frequently performed today. Her independent, expressive, imaginative, and influential musical legacy lives on.