TrentonDaily.com: Capital Philharmonic to Celebrate Great African-American Composers

Florence B. Price (1887-1953)

Samuel Thompson

Trenton Daily

Trenton, NJ

February 17, 2019

Patrick Jones

On Sunday, February 24, 2019 at 4:00 p.m. Trenton’s Capital Philharmonic will be celebrating great African-American composers with violinist Samuel Thompson.

According to the Trenton Capital Philharmonic, Vicki and Darrell Gatwood were preparing to renovate an abandoned house in downstate Illinois in 2009. Vandals had ransacked the house, a fallen tree had torn a hole in the roof, and the structure was in generally poor condition. However, in a part of the house that was still dry, the Gatwoods discovered piles of books, personal papers, and musical manuscripts – one of which was the First Violin Concerto by Florence Price, who had died in 1953.

The dilapidated house had once been her summer home and these and other works that were thought to be lost were now found. There is no record that this concerto, written in 1939, was ever performed, and in the 10 years since its discovery, it has only once been performed live–in Arkansas.

Thanks to Maestro’s diligent research to obtain this rare unpublished manuscript, the Capital Philharmonic will give the East Coast Premiere of this beautiful concerto. The soloist will be Samuel Thompson.