Chamber Music Charleston at Piccolo Spoleto

Event Details

Chamber Music Charleston is pleased to return to the Piccolo Spoleto Festival for two distinctive programs of music. The second second is titled Capturing the American Spirit – music of Dvorak, Price, Burleigh, and Still. The story begins with a young singer named Harry Thacker Burleigh, who was working as a custodian at the National Conservatory in New York City during the 1890s to fulfill the requirements of his scholarship. One evening, Antonín Dvo?ák, the newly appointed director, overheard Burleigh's deep baritone voice singing the spirituals that his grandfather had taught him. This chance encounter marked the beginning of a remarkable friendship and Dvo?ák's introduction to the world of African-American spirituals. Chamber Music Charleston’s program brings together the music of Burleigh and Dvorak, alongside those of other important but long-neglected composers such as Florence Price and William Grant Still. Through their music, the program paints a vivid portrait of a distinctive, yet classically-informed, American sound that is rooted in the country's diverse cultural heritage.

Each program takes place in the historic ballroom of South Caorlina Society Hall and begins with a light reception in the antechamber. Each concert is approximately 55 minutes in length and tickets are $5 for students, $25 for general admission, available online at chambermusiccharleston.org and citypapertickets.com.

Performing musicians include violinists Frances Hsieh and Jenny Weiss, violist Ben Weiss, and cellist Tim O’Malley.

Music to be performed includes selections from Antonin Dvo?ák's String Quartet in F Major, Op. 96, “American”, HT Burleigh's Southland Sketches for String Quartet, Florence Price's String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor and William Grant Still's Lyric Quartet