Florence Price (1887-1953)

Florence Beatrice (Smith) Price became the first black female composer to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra when Music Director Frederick Stock and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra played the world premiere of her Symphony No. 1 in E minor on June 15, 1933, on one of four concerts presented at The Auditorium Theatre from June 14 through June 17 during Chicago’s Century of Progress Exposition. The historic June 15th concert entitled “The Negro in Music” also included works by Harry T. Burleigh, Roland Hayes, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and John Alden Carpenter performed by Margaret A. Bonds, pianist and tenor Roland Hayes with the orchestra. Florence Price’s symphony had come to the attention of Stock when it won first prize in the prestigious Wanamaker Competition held the previous year. 

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Valerie Coleman (b.1970)

Valerie Coleman (b.1970) is an American composer and flutist as well as the creator of the wind quintet, Imani Winds. She was named Performance Today's 2020 Classical Woman of the year and was listed as one of the “Top 35 female composers in classical music” in the Washington Post. Coleman is committed to arts education, and chamber music advocacy. She recently joined the Mannes School of Music Flute and Composition faculty in Fall 2021. Prior to that she served on the faculty at The Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. Coleman’s music infuses Contemporary orchestration, with jazz and Afro-Cuban traditions. 

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was born in Croydon, England, on August 15, 1875. His father, a doctor from Sierra Leone, was forced to return to his home country around the time of Samuel's birth because he was not permitted to practice medicine in England. In 1899 Coleridge-Taylor first heard American spirituals sung by the Fisk Jubilee singers on one of their tours. He became interested in African-American folk song and began incorporating it into his compositions. Black Americans returned the compliment. In 1902 a group of African-American music lovers formed the Coleridge-Taylor Society to perform and promote his music in America, and eventually brought Coleridge-Taylor over for three successful tours--in 1904, 1906, and 1910. During the first tour, Coleridge-Taylor conducted the Marine Band along with the Coleridge-Taylor Society Chorus. He also met with President Teddy Roosevelt. Subsequent tours took Coleridge-Taylor to more and more cities in the Midwest and the East. 

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Valerie Capers (b.1935)

Dr. Valerie Capers was born in the Bronx and received her early schooling at the New York Institute for the Education of the Blind. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School of Music, the first blind person to do so. For several years she served on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music. She was also a member of the faculty in the Department of Music and Art at Bronx Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY) where she introduced several jazz courses to the music curriculum. From 1987 to 1995 she served as department chair, where she is now professor emerita.

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Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847)

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847) was a German pianist and composer, whose 500 compositions range from piano solo, art song, and chamber music to cantatas and oratorios. Her music is often passionate and lyrical, and always inventive with a rich contrapuntal underpinning. Due to the social conventions of her day, Fanny was expected to use music as an ornament to her charms, rather than as a means of economic livelihood; nonetheless, despite these prevailing attitudes she published several sets of piano pieces and songs near the end of her life. Her brother, composer Felix Mendelssohn, highly esteemed her musical judgement and would consult her about his own works as they were being composed. The majority of Fanny’s music is unpublished and exists only in manuscript form, waiting to be brought to light. 

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Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996)

Toru Takemitsu (1931-1996) was a self-taught Japanese composer who combined elements of Eastern and Western music and philosophy to create a unique sound world. Some of his early influences were the sonorities of Debussy, and Messiaen's use of nature imagery and modal scales. There is a certain influence of Webern in Takemitsu's use of silence, and Cage in his compositional philosophy, but his overall style is uniquely his own. Takemitsu believed in music as a means of ordering or contextualizing everyday sound in order to make it meaningful or comprehensible. His philosophy of "sound as life" lay behind his incorporation of natural sounds, as well as his desire to juxtapose and reconcile opposing elements such as Orient and Occident, sound and silence, and tradition and innovation. From the beginning, Takemitsu wrote highly experimental music involving improvisation, graphic notation, unusual combinations of instruments and recorded sounds. The result is music of great beauty and originality. It is usually slowly paced and quiet, but also capable of great intensity. The variety, quantity and consistency of Takemitsu's output are remarkable considering that he never worked within any kind of conventional framework or genre.  

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Miguel del Aguila (b.1957)

Three-time Grammy® nominated American composer Miguel del Aguila was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. In more than 130 works that couple drama and driving rhythm with nostalgic nods to his South American roots, he has established himself among the most distinctive and highly regarded composers of his generation. His music, which enjoys over 200 live performances yearly, has been hailed as “brilliant and witty “(The New York Times), “sonically dazzling” (Los Angeles Times), “with irresistible rhythms..disarmingly genial.” (San Francisco Sentinel), “widely exuberant..exquisitely imaginative..absolutely mesmerizing” (Fanfare), and “expressive and dramatic” (American Record Guide).

His multicultural background gives his works international appeal and presence with worldwide performances by nearly a hundred orchestras, thousands of ensembles and soloists, and 51 CD recordings. “I strive to write music that is sincere and that stirs intense emotions in the performer and the listener. Music that expresses my humanity, my times, my geography and my Latin heritage. Often rhythmically driven and virtuosic, I’m always concerned with its dramatic effectiveness. I don’t think in terms of trends or current styles of composition. The story that my music is telling determines its sound and form (Migueldelaguila.com)”

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David Baker (1931-2016)

David Baker was an American jazz composer, conductor and musician from Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1966, he joined  the music faculty at Indiana University in Bloomington, where he established the school's jazz studies program. His compositions are often considered examples of "third stream" jazz, and he wrote dozens of works for solo and chamber instruments or voice, band and orchestra.

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