Quick Facts
- First black female classical composer to be nationally recognized and to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra
- Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
- Played her first piano recital at the age of four
- Taught by her mother since none of the leading white piano teachers would accept her as a student
- First composition was published at the age of 11
- Faced obstacles in becoming recognized: “I have two handicaps,” she wrote: “I am a woman and I have some Negro [sic] blood in my veins.” (source)
- Attended the New England Conservatory in Boston (one of the only schools that would accept black students) where she earned two diplomas.
- She returned to Arkansas, where she got married and began a family, when she decided to move to Chicago because of racial tensions where she lived.
- In Chicago, Price was recognized as a composer. She won an award for her first symphony, which combined African American and European styles. The Chicago Symphony performed it.
- In 2009, one couple discovered 30 boxes of filled with 200 compositions by Florence Price in an abandoned house. Dozens of the scores were thought lost. The abandoned home had once been Florence Price’s summer home (about 70 miles away from her home in Chicago). (source)
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