A00045 - Florence Price, First African American Woman Composer

*Florence Price, the first African American woman to compose a symphony that was performed by a major symphony orchestra, was born.

The Chicago Symphony, under the direction of Frederick Stock, first played Symphony in E minor by Florence Price (1888 - 1953) at the Chicago World Fair.  The first African American woman to achieve distinction as a composer, Price was a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music in 1906, and won her first Harmon prize for composition in 1925.