The Philadelphia Orchestra’s sumptuous account of two symphonies by the pioneering 20th-century African American composer Florence Price has been named as the 2022 Limelight Recording of the Year. Conducted by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin for Deutsche Grammophon (DG 4862029), these absorbing interpretations of what are essentially rediscovered gems are also honoured as Orchestral Recording of the Year.

Recording of the Year & Orchestral Recording of the Year

“That was a really beautiful surprise. I’m very, very happy,” said Nézet-Séguin. “We were all thrilled – at DG and at the orchestra – so thank you.”

Born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1885, Florence Price was taught by her mother before studying composition at the New England Conservatory in Boston and, privately, with its director George Chadwick. Moving to Chicago to escape racial tensions in the South, she divorced her abusive husband and went on to support the family by working as a pianist, organist, teacher and composer.

Her Symphony No 1 in E Minor was premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1933 – the first work by a Black woman to be performed by a...