One year ago today I heard the music of Florence Price for the first time and my world changed forever.
In my eyes Florence Price is simply the greatest composer of all time. It’s not just her music, which is the most beautiful I’ve ever heard, Florence Price fought against every possible prejudice and tackled every injustice. Her perseverance and stamina is astounding in addition to the wide range of mediums for which she wrote. Not only this but both she and I are mixed race women and I can’t help feel a connection. Florence Price is an inspiration, she will always be my role model and guiding light.
To celebrate this important anniversary I’m introducing a new monthly segment on my show called Fun With Florence. On the 4th week of every month, starting this Tuesday, I’ll be playing one of her incredible pieces and talking about this phenomenal person. I’ll be exploring her life, work, accomplishments and the myriad of reasons why she inspires me and many other people around the world.
On Tuesday I’m starting with a very special recording from pianist and fellow Price champion Samantha Ege.
In the meantime the first piece of Florence Price I heard was her Symphony in. E Minor.
Today is 100 days since the 1st broadcast of The Daffodil Perspective, and to celebrate I’m taking it to the next level, so much exciting news to share.
1, I’ve launched my brand new logo everywhere. I think it looks really cool!
2. Also got a brand new and improved home page. Read all about my mission here.
3. I’m pleased to announce Contemporary Corner has its first monthly residency with PARMA Recordings! On the 3rd Tuesday of every month I will be showcasing a single composer album by one of their awesome composers. This is starting on the 19th March.
4. Im also excited to announce I’m now a contributor on Women in Music Blog, a fantastic organisation started 30 years ago by composers Odaline de la Martinez, Nicola leFanu and others to support and promote women working in the arts. Fingers crossed to be a full member soon too. Next week on the show I’m very excited to feature the music of Lucy Hollingworth, a brilliant composer and by happy coincidence a trustee of Women in Music.
5. I wrote a guest blog on Dame Elizabeth Maconchy for Illuminate Women’s Music, another trailblazing organisation supporting and promoting women composers. We have a great relationship and I’ve been pleased to feature some of their live recordings every month on the show. Check out my piece on Maconchy and find out more about Illuminate here. They will be playing music by Maconchy at the Royal College of Music on Saturday 16th February, a concert not to be missed.
6. This week Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy mentioned my blog post on their Monday Link Round up. Check it out and find out about their amazing work here. Shout out to them and all the work they do seeing music by women gets performed.
7. I’ve been playing Florence Price a lot on my show so I’ve decided to make my celebration of her official, introducing Fun With Florence! Every month I’ll be showcasing a different piece by this amazing woman along with sharing her story, what inspires me so much about her and a few lessons she can teach us.
That will be happening on the 4th Tuesday of every month and I’m starting with a very special recording from pianist Samantha Ege, a fellow champion of Price and brilliant interpreter of Price’s music. Her album Four Women was released in November, I was very excited to feature it as my album of the week on the 27th November. Have a listen to Ege’s rendition of Price’s Sonata in E Minor from the album Four Women.
To find out more about Samantha Ege and her work check out her awesome site Music Herstories here
8. I created my first curated Spotify playlist – a basic guide to female composers throughout history starting with Hildegard von Bingen, moving through the eras to the 21st century. Just some of the many awesome women composers. Check it out.
Expect more curated playlists coming soon…
9. Lastly shout to composer Rebecca Rowe, I featured her wonderful Fantasie In Nomine in Contemporary Corner on 29th January. Pleased to get a mention on her site too, she’s got tons of great things happening, check it all out here.
10. That’s almost it, I’m planning on starting more regular blog features including updates on new releases, upcoming events and various curated playlists. Few more things in the works, will drop them as soon as I can. Check out my Facebook page and Twitter for updates.
