William Grant Still
George Walker
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Barbara Arnold
Wednesday, March 7th, 2018
“I, Too, Sing America” is the theme of the Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra’s
concert on Saturday, March 10, at 7:30pm at Grace Lutheran Church, 202
W. Grand Ave. The theme comes from the 1926 poem “I, Too” by
African-American poet Langston Hughes. The orchestra will perform works
by two African-American composers and an American woman: “From the Black
Belt” by William Grant Still, “Lyric for Strings,” by George Walker,
and “Quartet No. 1 of the Gaelic Symphony” by Amy Beach. Still – who,
like Hughes, was part of the Harlem Renaissance – was the first
African-American to have an opera performed by the New York City Opera
and the first to have a symphony performed by a major orchestra. Walker
was the first African-American to graduate from the Curtis Institute of
Music in Philadelphia and also the first to win a Pulitzer Prize for
Music. Beach is recognized for being the first American woman to compose
and publish a symphony.
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