Chamber Music Charleston at Piccolo Spoleto: Dvorak, Price, Burleigh, and Still

Chamber Music Charleston is pleased to return to the Piccolo Spoleto Festival for two distinctive programs of music, May 31 and June 7. Each program takes place in the historic ballroom of South Carolina Society Hall and begins with a light reception in the antechamber. Each concert is approximately 55 minutes long. Tickets are open seating: $5 for students, $25 for general admission, available online at chambermusiccharleston.org and citypapertickets.com. Join us before each performance for a light reception. Box Office opens 45 minutes prior to each performance.
The June 7 program, “Capturing the American Spirit: Music of Dvorak, Price, Burleigh, and Still,” features music for string quartet; performed by Frances Hsieh and Jenny Weiss, violins; Ben Weiss, viola; and Tim O’Malley, cello.
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 Dvořák, 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 Dvořák’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.
- Dvořák String Quartet in F Major, Op. 96, “American”
i. Allegro ma non troppo
ii.Lento - Burleigh Southland Sketches for String Quartet
- Price String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor
ii. Andante Cantabile - Still Lyric Quartet
iii. The Jovial One