Price, Beach, Dvorak: Fort Smith Symphony opens season Sept. 11

"Playing Florence Price's violin concerto is so empowering," says Er-Gene Kahng, concert master for the Fort Smith Symphony. "It is an opportunity to celebrate Arkansas history, champion historically overlooked voices, and perform a beautiful concerto."

Kahng ought to know.

"Er-Gene was the first violinist to record and perform the concerto after it was rediscovered in 2009," explains John Jeter, the Fort Smith Symphony's music director. "She was the first to perform it with orchestra in 2018 with the Arkansas Philharmonic, conducted by Steven Byess. She can be considered the expert violinist for this work and has already performed it with four different orchestras. One can't experience a more authoritative performance anywhere else!"

Jeter chose Price's 1952 Violin Concerto No. 2 to open the symphony's 2021-22 season on Sept. 11, along with the "Masked Ball Waltz" (1894) by Amy Beach and Symphony No. 8 (1889) by Bohemian composer Antonin Dvorak. According to Jeter, Beach was the first recognized female American concert composer in the United States, while Price, from Arkansas, was the first to be recognized as a female African-American composer.

"The Beach and Price works are beautiful pieces in a classic Americana style," says Jeter, adding that Price's works, with their "ever present blues and spiritual feel," are popular choices for the 2021-22 season across the country. "These works provide a great contrast to the clearly direct and sunny central European musical style of Dvorak, whose 8th Symphony is one of the popular of all Romantic Era orchestral works.

"We wanted to present masterworks composers as well as showcase female composers and composers of color," he explains. "It is truly amazing how many wonderful composers there are out there, and we are making an effort to expand our repertoire to explore this great variety of music. The programming for this concert features two beautiful works that are rarely performed."

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FAQ

Fort Smith Symphony:

Orchestral Brilliance

WHEN — 7 p.m. Sept. 11

WHERE — ArcBest Performing Arts Center in Fort Smith

COST — $20-$50

INFO — 452-7575, fortsmithsymphony.org

FYI — Concert tickets include two free drinks at the Bakery District After-Party as well as the link to the live video streamed version of the concert. Streaming only tickets are not available due to music licensing restrictions.