Durham Symphony Orchestra: Compositions by Her, A Concert Celebrating Women in Music

The concert will feature works by two outstanding American composers, Libby Larsen and Florence Price. Larsen’s song cycle Sonnets from the Portuguese is based on the poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Our performance will feature the return to Hayti of acclaimed soprano soloist LaToya Lain, renowned (among other things) for her performance in the opera Sanctuary Road. The Violin Concerto No. 2 by trail-blazing African American composer Florence Price will be performed in its entirety by gifted young American violinist Holly Nelson.

We will also pay homage to iconic female characters evoked by the music of Georges Bizet.  The program will include instrumental pieces and “Micaela’s Aria” from Carmen (with soprano LaToya Lain). It will also include a salute to that opera’s unconventional heroine and selections from Bizet’s incidental music to the play L’ Arlésienne (“The Girl from Arles”).