Florence B. Price

1887 - 1953

Florence B. Price received her early music training from her mother and attended the New England Conservatory of Music, graduating in 1906. After she moved to Chicago in 1926, her works received increasing recognition; her Symphony in E Minor won the Rodman Wanamaker Prize in 1932, leading to its performance by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Frederick Stock at the Chicago World's Fair. Price was one of the pioneer black symphonists along with William Grant Still and William Dawson. Her compositions number close to 300 and her orchestral works were performed in several U.S. cities and in England.