Program Notes | Rhapsody in Blue

Florence Beatrice Price
Born: April 9, 1887, in Little Rock, Arkansas
Died: June 3, 1953, Chicago, Illinois
Composed: 1933; Reconstructed by Trevor Weston (b. 1967)
World Premiere: June 24, 1934, in Chicago. Price was the soloist. Premiere of Weston reconstruction was February 17, 2011, also in Chicago.
Duration: 18 minutes
Instrumentation: flute, oboe, two clarinets, bassoon, two horns, two trumpets, two trombones, timpani, percussion (bass drum, snare drum, suspended cymbal, crash cymbals), solo piano, and strings

The rediscovery of Florence Price was a major development emerging from 2009, when a major cache of her manuscripts surfaced in a summer home in St. Anne, Illinois. Price was the first African-American female composer to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra. Now her rediscovered compositions are getting a considerable amount of well-deserved attention.

Her story is remarkable. She performed in public at age 4 and published her first composition when she was 11. She was accepted to New England Conservatory at 16, studying composition, piano, and organ. After teaching in Little Rock and Atlanta for several years, she left the South for Chicago, pursuing additional study at Chicago Musical College and the American Conservatory. By the 1920s, she was winning awards, and in 1932 she earned first prize in the Wanamaker competition for her Symphony in E Minor. Chicago Symphony conductor Frederick Stock took note and conducted the premiere of that work in 1933. He also encouraged her to write a piano concerto. Marian Anderson incorporated two of Price’s arrangements of spirituals into her repertoire, enhancing Price’s reputation. She continued to teach and compose until her death in 1953.

Unfortunately Price’s original orchestration for the Piano Concerto did not survive – but two reduced scores did, with her notes about instrumentation written on 2- and 3-piano versions. Drew University composer Trevor Weston based his reconstruction on those manuscripts. “My name came up as someone who could put Humpty Dumpty back together again,” he has said.

Price’s style is neo-romantic, with models rooted in European classics. For example, her orchestral introduction leads to a dramatic extended piano cadenza – a bow to Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto. Later in the first section, the figuration is reminiscent of both Schumann and Rachmaninoff. But African-American elements play a role too, notably in call and response textures.

Although the concerto is nominally in one movement, it divides into three sections organized fast-slow-fast. An oboe trill heralds the lyrical slow movement, which opens with music that is half chorale, half spiritual. Blue notes surface here and there, a subtle reference to African-American culture and the flourishing jazz world in 1930s America. Her finale is derived from juba, an African-American dance style thought to have originated in Congo. To modern ears, it sounds like a cross between ragtime and cakewalk. Irresistibly foot-tapping, it will captivate you.

George Gershwin
Born: September 26, 1898, in Brooklyn, New York
Died: July 11, 1937, in Beverly Hills, California
Composed: January 7–February 4, 1924
World Premiere: November 12, 1924, in New York City
Duration: 16 minutes
Instrumentation: two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, three horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, two alto saxophones, tenor saxophone, banjo, timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbals, glockenspiel, gong, snare drum, triangle), solo piano, and strings

In January 1924, the New York Tribune announced a concert of American music, at which a committee of judges would decide what American music is. For the occasion, Irving Berlin, Victor Herbert, and George Gershwin would introduce new compositions. The paper reported:

“George Gershwin is at work on a jazz concerto, Irving Berlin is writing a syncopated tone poem, and Victor Herbert is working on an American Suite.”

It was news to Gershwin. He had planned a collaboration with jazz band leader Paul Whiteman, but they hadn’t discussed details.

Gershwin was 25, ambitious, and talented. Though unschooled, he had solid commercial instincts. Recognizing the professional potential of the American music event, he and Whiteman decided to make the new piece happen. The result was Rhapsody in Blue, which has become an iconic American work.

Whiteman suggested that Ferde Grofé orchestrate the Rhapsody, since Gershwin had no background in orchestration. Grofé’s accomplishment was masterly, and contributed greatly to Rhapsody in Blue's success.

The work has had an extraordinary impact on American music. Although some critics objected to Gershwin's lack of traditional formal discipline, the audience loved the piece. Even the harshest detractors acknowledged the freshness of the musical ideas, beginning with the fabulous clarinet glissando that soars upward at the start, setting the whole sultry tone of the work.

Gershwin later told his first biographer, Isaac Goldberg:

“I heard it as a musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our national pep, of our blues, our metropolitan madness.”

That description helps to explain the capriciousness and vivid snapshots in the Rhapsody. Its two large sections are peppered with improvisatory solo piano cadenzas. Rhythmic ideas dominate the first half, with extensive, non-traditional development. The E-major section with the Rhapsody's most famous melody is the emotional heart of the work, but gives way to a showy and virtuosic close.

Carlos Simon
Born: 1986, in Washington, D.C.
Composed: 2024
World Premiere: June 6 2024, in Jacksonville, Florida.
Duration: 20 minutes
Instrumentation: three flutes (one doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, two trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbals, glockenspiel, suspended cymbal, snare drum, triangle, vibraphone, tubular bells), harp, and strings

In 2022, Carlos Simon told The Washington Post, “My dad, he always gets on me. He wants me to be a preacher, but I always tell him, ‘Music is my pulpit. That’s where I preach.’” Immersed in gospel music as a child, Simon acknowledges gospel’s improvisatory nature as a key influence on his own compositions. Currently composer-in-residence for the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Simon is also the Boston Symphony’s first Composer Chair in the institution’s nearly 150-year history. A graduate of Morehouse College and Georgia State, he earned his doctorate at University of Michigan, studying with Michael Daugherty and Evan Chambers. His album Requiem for the Enslaved, a multi-genre tribute commemorating the lives of enslaved persons sold by Georgetown University in 1838, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2023. His composer’s note follows in its entirety.

I have always been interested in the zodiac signs, and how they correlate to personality traits based on what date you were born. For centuries, these signs have been used to identify the character traits, motivations, and life approaches of a person. There are twelve different signs that are grouped into four separate zodiac elements. I have decided to compose an orchestral study on each of the zodiac elements – Fire, Water, Air, and Earth.

I. Fire (Aries, Leo and Sagittarius)

These signs are said to be passionate, dynamic, and temperamental. They are also known for being bold enthusiastic, and creative. I have written music that is rhythmically syncopated with fast moving gestures in each of the orchestral families. The music changes suddenly in mood to express the capricious character of the fire sign.

II. Water (Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces)

Emotional, intuitive, and nurturing are all characteristics of these signs. They are known for being deeply in touch with the subconscious, and having a strong sense of empathy and emotional depth. The music imitates the motion of water (much like a barcarolle) with slow moving arpeggios in the strings with lyrical motion in the woodwinds.

III. Air (Gemini, Libra and Aquarius)

These signs are said to be intellectual, communicative, and social. They are also known for being analytical thinkers and strong communicators. The texture of the music is floaty and ethereal with fast- moving passages in the woodwinds. The strings soaring in the high registers to represent these three air signs.

IV. Earth (Taurus, Capricorn and Virgo)

Signs associated with earth are known for being grounded, practical, and reliable. They can also be stubborn and unyielding. For this movement I have composed warm consonant harmonies played in the lower strings and swells in the brass to represent the grounding nature of these signs.

                                                                        -Carlos Simon

Aaron Copland
Born: November 14, 1900 in Brooklyn, New York
Died: December 2, 1990, in Tarrytown, New York
Composed: 1938
World Premiere: October 16, 1938, in Chicago.
Duration: 22 minutes
Instrumentation: piccolo, two flutes (one doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (xylophone, snare drum, wood block, glockenspiel, cymbals, sleigh bells, guïro, whip, suspended cymbal, bass drum, tin whistle, triangle), harp, piano, and strings

The ballets of Aaron Copland hold a special place in the hearts of Americans. With his three early dance scores, Billy the Kid (1938), Rodeo (1942), and Appalachian Spring (1944), Copland caught the spirit of pioneer America, expressing this nation's optimism, grit, and folk culture. Music from these three scores seems as American as apple pie, yet Copland's voice shines through, flavoring the wholesome melodies of his ballet music with 20th-century spice.

The first of those three popular ballets, Billy the Kid, was written on the heels of Copland's hit orchestral piece, El Salón México (1936), in which he first used folk material. Billy grew out of a suggestion by Lincoln Kirstein, then director of the American Ballet Caravan. Kirstein wrote the scenario, romanticizing the outlaw's life. The story focuses first on the pivotal incident of Billy's youth, when he sees his mother killed by a stray bullet. Incensed by fury and grief, he slays one of her assailants with a knife, and his fugitive life begins.

Copland's concert suite consists of seven movements, or about two-thirds of the complete ballet. We hear the opening, which evokes the solitude and loneliness of the open prairie. The folksy atmosphere of a frontier town is emphasized by Copland's adaptation of the tunes from "Git along little doggies" and "Oh bury me not on the lone prairie." He also alludes to the cowboy songs "Come Wrangle yer Bronco" and "Goodbye Old Paint." The rough-and-tumble scenes of violence spring vividly to life through Copland's use of muted trumpets and side drum; gentler and more humorous sides of Billy's character also come through in this down-to-earth, likeable score.

Praised for his versatility, technical clarity, and keen musical insight, Tito Muñoz is internationally recognised as one of the most gifted conductors of his generation. Following his ten-year tenure as the Virginia G. Piper Music Director of The Phoenix Symphony, which concluded in the 2023/24 season, he continues his association with the orchestra as Artistic Partner. In the 2025/26 season, he also takes up the role of Interim Principal Conductor at the Cleveland Institute of Music, becoming a guest member of its Orchestral Studies faculty.

Tito previously served as Music Director of the Opéra National de Lorraine in France, and earlier held Assistant Conductor positions with the Cleveland Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and the Aspen Music Festival.

He has appeared with many of North America’s leading orchestras, including those of Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minnesota, New York, and Utah, as well as the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s – making his Carnegie Hall debut with the latter in a sold-out performance of Orff’s Carmina Burana in February 2024. Maintaining a strong international conducting presence, Tito has also worked with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, SWR Symphonieorchester, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre National d’Île de France, Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony, Royal Philharmonic (London), Ulster Orchestra, Danish National Chamber Orchestra, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Music Makers Singapore, Auckland Philharmonia, Sydney Symphony, Adelaide Symphony, São Paulo State Symphony, Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier, and Opéra de Rennes.

The 2025/26 season includes debuts with the New Jersey Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Antwerp Symphony, Jena Philharmonie, Nürnberger Symphoniker, and Komische Oper Berlin, alongside return appearances with SWR Symphonieorchester and the New York Philharmonic.

A committed advocate for contemporary music, Tito has championed composers of our time through commissions, premieres, and recordings. He has conducted important premieres of works by Christopher Cerrone, Kenneth Fuchs, Dai Fujikura, Michael Hersch, Adam Schoenberg, Mauricio Sotelo, and Francisco Coll. His close collaboration with Hersch has included world premieres of On the Threshold of Winter (Brooklyn Academy of Music, 2014), the Violin Concerto with Patricia Kopatchinskaja and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (2015), I hope we get a chance to visit soon (Ojai and Aldeburgh Festivals), the script of storms (BBC Symphony Orchestra, London), and And We, each (2024). In March 2025, Tito led the American Composers Orchestra in premieres by Tomàs Peire Serrate, Clarice Assad, and Edmar Castañeda at Carnegie Hall, receiving glowing reviews, ‘Brilliantly led by conductor Tito Muñoz, the concert felt like the center of a social triangle of concerts, parties, and going to church’ (Boyd, 2025).

A passionate educator, Tito is a regular guest at many of North America’s leading educational institutions, summer festivals, and youth orchestras. He has led performances at the Eastman School of Music, Aspen Music Festival, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Cleveland Institute of Music, Indiana University, Kent/Blossom Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, New England Conservatory, New World Symphony, Oberlin Conservatory, Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto), University of Texas at Austin, and National Repertory Orchestra, as well as a nine-city tour with the St. Olaf College Orchestra.

Born in Queens, New York, Tito began his musical training as a violinist in the city’s public schools. He later studied at the LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts, Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program, and the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College Division. He continued violin studies with Daniel Phillips at Queens College (CUNY) before turning to conducting at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen, working with David Zinman and Murry Sidlin. He won the Aspen Music Festival’s 2005 Robert J. Harth Conductor Prize and 2006 Aspen Conducting Prize, serving as the festival’s Assistant Conductor in 2007 and later returning as a guest conductor.

Tito made his professional conducting debut in 2006 with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, invited by Leonard Slatkin as a participant of the National Conducting Institute. That same year, he made his Cleveland Orchestra debut at the Blossom Music Festival. He was awarded the 2009 Mendelssohn Scholarship sponsored by Kurt Masur and the Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Foundation in Leipzig, and was a prizewinner in the 2010 Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition in Frankfurt.

Lauded as “exquisite” by The Philadelphia Inquirer and “a pianist of sterling artistry” by Gramophone, GRAMMY Award winning pianist Michelle Cann is one of the most sought-after artists of her generation. Recent engagements include appearances with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, and Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de São Paulo. She is a recipient of the Sphinx Medal of Excellence and the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award, and she served as the inaugural Christel DeHaan Artistic Partner of the American Piano Awards.

Highlights of Cann’s 2025-26 season include appearances with the Colorado Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, and Ireland’s National Symphony Orchestra. She also performs the world premiere of a new piano concerto by Valerie Coleman with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. Her recital appearances include Stanford Live, Music Toronto, Chamber Music Detroit, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Spivey Hall, and a recital tour in China.

Recognized as a leading interpreter of the piano music of Florence Price, Cann performed the New York City premiere of Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement with The Dream Unfinished Orchestra in July 2016 and the Philadelphia premiere with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin in February 2021. Her recording of the concerto with the New York Youth Symphony won a GRAMMY Award in 2023 for Best Orchestral Performance. She won a GRAMMY Award in 2025 for Beyond the Years: Unpublished Songs of Florence Price, recorded with soprano Karen Slack, which features 19 unpublished songs composed by Price. Her acclaimed debut solo album Revival, featuring music by Price and Margaret Bonds, was released in May 2023 on the Curtis Studio label. She has also recorded two Price piano quintets with the Catalyst Quartet as a part of the quartet’s UNCOVERED series. A champion of emerging talent, Cann and cellist Tommy Mesa recorded Our Stories, an album of new works by five living composers of color, which was released in November 2023.

A celebrated chamber musician, Cann has collaborated with leading artists including the Catalyst, Dover, and Juilliard string quartets, Imani Winds, violinists Timothy and Nikki Chooi, soprano Karen Slack, and mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges. She regularly performs duo piano repertoire with her sister, pianist Kimberly Cann, as the Cann Duo. She has appeared as co-host and collaborative pianist with NPR’s From The Top, collaborating with actor/conductor Damon Gupton, violinist Leila Josefowicz, and violinist and MacArthur Fellow Vijay Gupta. Cann’s numerous media appearances include Performance Today, PBS Great Performances’ Now Hear This, and Living the Classical Life.

Embracing a dual role as performer and pedagogue, Cann is frequently invited to teach master classes, give lecture-demonstrations, and lead teaching residencies. Recent residencies include the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival and the National Conference of the Music Teachers National Association. She has recorded lessons for tonebase, the popular piano lesson platform. She has also served on the juries of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, the Kauffman Music Center International Youth Piano Competition, and the piano competition of the Music Academy of the West.

Cann holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Paul Schenly and Dr. Daniel Shapiro, and an Artist’s Diploma from Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Robert McDonald. She joined the Curtis piano faculty in 2020 as the inaugural Eleanor Sokoloff Chair in Piano Studies. She is also on the piano faculty of the Manhattan School of Music.