The Orchestra at Shelter Rock, under the direction of Music Director Stephen Michael Smith, will perform its Annual Summer Concert on Sunday, July 31, at 1:00 pm after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19.
The program will feature works by three significant women composers of classical music, two of whom were African American.
Opening the program will be Overture No 1, op 23 written by French composer Louise Farrenc in 1834. In addition to writing three symphonies and two overtures for orchestra, Farrenc composed a considerable number of chamber music and piano pieces. She has the distinction of being the only female professor at the Paris Conservatory (piano) in the 19th Century.
Acclaimed tenor Anthony P McGlaun will sing four spirituals set by the 20th century African American composer Margaret Bonds.
Bonds graduated from Northwestern University in 1934 where she earned Bachelors and a Masters degrees, and become a prolific and respected composer. In the 1960s, the famed African American soprano Leontyne Price commissioned and recorded a number of spirituals arranged by Bonds.
Symphony No 1 by Florence Price will complete the program. Born in 1887 in Little Rock, Arkansas, Price went on to study at the New England Conservatory. She is credited with composing over 300 works and was the first African American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer.
Price’s Symphony No 1 won First Prize in the prestigious Rodman Wanamaker Competition in 1932 and was premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Only recently has this important work started to receive the contemporary recognition and performances it deserves after it was finally published in 2008.
The concert will be held indoors at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, 48 Shelter Rock Road, in Manhasset. A suggested donation of $10 will be requested at the door (no advanced sales). Simultaneously, the audio portion of the concert will be broadcast outdoors, where those wishing to do so are encouraged to take in the beautifully landscaped lawns and gardens of the 100-acre campus while listening to the music.
The facility is accessible, air-conditioned, and there is ample free parking. The concert will last approximately 75 minutes, and a reception will follow on the Art Gallery Terrace.
