NOVEMBER 4 | 7:30 PM | UT TYLER COWAN CENTER
Richard Lee, conductor
Sharon Knox Deuby, clarinet
Antonín Dvořák: Serenade for Strings, Op. 22
Michael Torke: East*
Florence Price: Symphony No. 1 in E minor*
ETSO celebrates 20th century American classical music in the second concert of the season. The orchestra offers its first performance of the Symphony No. 1 in E minor by Florence Price. Noted as being the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, Price would write some 300 works during her life, including four symphonies. The concert also shines the spotlight on the work of Michael Torke with its first performance of his piece for clarinet and orchestra, East. One of three concerti he has written for wind instruments inspired by directions of the compass, Torke says of this work “[it] reminds me of morning with a hopeful, fresh sun rising in the eastern sky.” ETSO Principal Clarinetist Sharon Knox Deuby will be featured soloist. In keeping with the tone of Florence Price’s work, the concert opens with Antonín Dvořák’s melodic Serenade for Strings.
*ETSO Premiere