Opening Night welcomes pianist Michelle Cann as she performs Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement. The Concerto evokes the composer’s experiences as a Black woman raised in the post-Civil War South. Experience references to spirituals, call and response, and the “juba” - a lively plantation dance that predates the Civil War in this impassioned Concerto. Paired with the Concerto is Beethoven’s powerful and triumphant Symphony No. 7. The rhythmical Seventh Symphony radiated such tremendous intensity and enthusiasm at its premiere that the audience was immediately won over and cheered for more. Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony has remained popular ever since!