Chamber Concert IV
I HAVE A DREAM

In August 1963, Martin Luther King gave an unforgettable speech in Washington. The 250,000 listeners present shared King’s utopia, where every individual has an equal right to pursue the American dream regardless of origin and skin color – just as the three composers of the concert have shown. 

The first black symphonist, Florence Price, rose to the forefront of composers at a time when he would not have even been allowed on the front seat of buses. African-American tunes are played in his piano quintet. English-born Samuel Coleridge-Taylor made his masterful nonet at just 19 years old and earned the nickname African Mahler in America. Star mezzo-soprano Virpi Räisänen interprets a series of songs by William Grant Still, who influenced in the black nationalist movement, which tells of unlucky love in the tones of impressionist blues.

Virpi Räisänen | mezzosopraano
Elina Vähälä | violin
Ara Gregorian | violin
Jennifer Stumm | viola
Claudio Bohorquez | cello
Mackenzie Melemed | piano
Mika Rännäli | piano

Oulu Symphony Chamber Musicians:
Lasse Joamets | violin
Helinä Nissi | viola
Anna Liukkonen | cello
Antoine Greuzard | bass
Paula Nurila | oboe
Petri Oittinen | clarinet
Eri Ikeda | bassoon
Lauri Vasala | French horn

PROGRAM

Florence Price: Piano Quintet in A minor
William Grant Still: Songs of Separation
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Nonet in F minor, Op. 2

YLE will record the I Have a Dream concert on Sunday, March 20th 2022.