Conductor Tito Muños will open the final program of the season with works by Buxtehude and Quinn Mason and close with Beethoven’s joyous Symphony No. 7. Beethoven called this work “one of the happiest products of my poor talents”—the perfect choice to conclude Symphony San Jose’s 20th anniversary season.
Praised for his versatility, technical clarity, and keen musical insight, Tito Muñoz is internationally recognized as one of the most gifted conductors on the podium today. Now in his fourth season as Music Director of the Phoenix Symphony, Mr. Muñoz previously served as Music Director of the Opéra National de Lorraine and the Orchestre symphonique et lyrique de Nancy in France. Prior appointments include Assistant Conductor positions with the Cleveland Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and the Aspen Music Festival.
Florence Beatrice Price (1887 – 1953) was an American Classical Composer, noted as the first African-American Woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, and to have a composition played by a major orchestra. Rice composed many works: symphonies, concertos, choral works, art songs, and music for chamber and solo instruments. Lost and largely forgotten after her death, a trove of her scores was unearthed in 2009; and in 2018, the catalog of her music acquired a publisher. Price was widely performed during the 1930s, but by the fifties her work had dropped from view. Since the rediscovery of the full score for her Piano Concerto in One Movement, Michelle Cann’s ‘exquisite, authoritative’ performances have reintroduced Price to audiences and critics alike. Passionate, part Romantic, part bluesy, the Concerto is a small sample of Price’s repertory.
Pianist Michelle Cann made her orchestral debut at age fourteen and has since performed as a soloist with numerous ensembles including The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, the Florida Orchestra, the North Carolina Symphony, and the New Jersey Orchestra.