Florence Price was the first African American woman to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra gave that performance in 1933.
That CSO performance was conducted by Frederick Stock - the same Frederick Stock who was a guest conductor at Interlochen's National Music Camp in 1940 and the namesake of Frederick Stock Avenue on Interlochen's campus.
The Florence Price symphony that Frederick Stock conducted with the Chicago Symphony orchestra was the symphony now known as her First - at the time of that first performance, it was her only symphony. She went on to write three more.
Her Symphony no. 3 has deep ties to Michigan, especially to Detroit. It was commissioned by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Music Project during the depths of the Great Depression and premiered in 1940 by the Michigan WPA Symphony Orchestra at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
The earliest documented performance of Florence Price’s music at Interlochen took place in July of 1942, on a program featuring the National Music Camp’s band and choir.
This episode includes archival audio of that 1942 performance, plus much more recent Interlochen student concerts featuring Price's music.
Music featured in this episode
All music is composed by Florence Price
3 Negro Dances (arr. for band)
Clarence Sawhill / Interlochen Band
July 12, 1942 - Interlochen Bowl
Symphony no. 1 (excerpts)
Erina Yashima / World Youth Symphony Orchestra
July 16, 2023 - Kresge Auditorium
Symphony no. 3
Jader Bignamini / World Youth Symphony Orchestra with members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
July 20, 2025 - Kresge Auditorium
Song for Snow (text: Elizabeth Coatsworth)
John Bragle / Interlochen Arts Academy Choir / Ya-Ju Chuang, piano
February 1, 2019 - Corson Auditorium
The archival recordings heard on this program are available thanks in part to The Association for Recorded Sound Collections' Classical Music Preservation Grant, generous support from IPR listeners and the Hamer D. and Phyllis C. Shafer Foundation.
