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

Florence Price: Dances in the Canebrakes

W.A. Mozart: Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major, K. 313

Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90 “Italian”

Demarre McGill has gained international recognition as a soloist, recitalist, chamber and orchestral musician. Winner of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, he has appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Seattle, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Grant Park, Hawaii, San Diego, San Francisco, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras and, at age 15, the Chicago Symphony. Now principal flute of the Seattle Symphony, he previously served as principal flute of the Dallas Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Florida Orchestra, and Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, and as acting principal flute of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. For Demarre McGill’s full bio, visit the Philharmonia Northwest website.

Presented by Philharmonia Northwest