Boston Music Project Teaching Artist, Thomas Cooper, along with former BMP Teaching artists Greta Myatieva and Stephanie Chen have recently released a recording of Florence Price’s String Quartet No. 1 with their group Fermata Chamber Soloists. Their recording was one of 8 pieces selected for this month’s Instant Replay series on Classical Radio Boston (WCRB) and can be heard on the radio throughout the next month! The recording also will appear on the group's album that also includes Antonin Dvorak's String Quartet in F Major "American."
When asked about his inspiration for this recording project, Thomas said:
"I wanted to highlight two works that I believe so thoughtfully and uniquely capture the American sound in Western Art Music. Florence Price, a voice not widely heard until recently, has taken the music world by storm. A commercial recording, however, of her first string quartet does not yet exist. Dvorak's American, perhaps the most famous string quartet, paired well with what I hope will become an equally famous work; both pieces beautifully capture the deep, yet troubled, history of this continent."
Check out Fermata Chamber Soloists’ performance of Price’s String Quartet No. 1 in G Major below!
Featuring: Greta Myatieva, violin | Grant Houston, violin | Thomas Cooper, viola | Stephanie Chen, cello
Antonio Oliart, Engineer
About the Composer Florence Beatrice Price (9 April 1887 - 3 June 1953) was an American classical composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher. She is noted as being one of the first African-American women composers of symphonic music to receive national recognition for her music. She was awarded first prize in the Wanamaker Foundation Awards competition for her Symphony No. 1 in E Minor which was later premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra making her the first African-American woman composer to have her work performed by a major American orchestra. Read more about the life of Florence Price and her work here.