Portraits gathered by the Binghamton Philharmonic of current and historic Black composers. Top row, left to right: Joseph de Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges; Samuel Coleridge-Taylor; Florence Price; William Grant Still. Bottom row, left to right: George Walker; William Dawson; Ulysses Kay; Wynton Marsalis.
In Friday’s (2/28) WICZ (Broome County, NY), Michael White writes, “The Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra performed for school districts from around the southern tier today with its show called ‘Classically Black: Great Music of African American Composers.’ Today’s performance featured music from legendary and current African-American composers including Duke Ellington, Florence Price, and Quinn Mason. Students got the opportunity to hear the music they have learned in school prior to today’s performance. Today was the first time the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra held a performance for students since 2022. ‘We developed a partnership with the Binghamton University Art Museum, and they are here today with four works from their collection by African-American artists. And they partnered with us to create lesson plans so that all of the students here today for these two performances have been able to listen to the music, see the artwork, and really get prepared for this performance,’ Executive Director for Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra Paul Cienniwa said. ‘So it’s really been a bit of a full circle and we’ve worked hard with the schools to make this part of their Black History Month celebration.’ ”
