Soprano Penglei Liang and pianist Yuyao Qu present a beautiful and varied recital featuring music by Florence Price alongside works by Debussy, Strauss, Verdi and other celebrated composers.
Presented in association with the Royal College of Music, this free lunchtime concert explores awakening, longing, love, loss and hope through classical song.
At the heart of the programme are three songs by pioneering African American composer Florence Price.
Price became the first African American woman to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra presented her Symphony in E minor in 1933.
She also composed more than 100 songs, including settings of works by Black American poets. Much of her music was believed to have been lost until a large collection of manuscripts was discovered in an abandoned house outside Chicago in 2009.
The Florence Price section of the concert includes:
- Songs to the Dark Virgin, with words by Langston Hughes
- Night, with words by Louise C. Wallace
- Hold Fast to Dreams, with words by Langston Hughes
The wider programme includes works by Claude Debussy, Richard Strauss, Jonathan Dove, Giuseppe Verdi, Gaetano Donizetti, Benjamin Britten, Clara Schumann, Franz Schubert and Edvard Grieg.
Programme
Part One – Awakening and Longing
- Claude Debussy – La Flûte de Pan
- Claude Debussy – Green
- Richard Strauss – Ständchen
- Richard Strauss – Freundliche Vision
- Jonathan Dove – Between Your Sheets
- Giuseppe Verdi – Caro nome from Rigoletto
Interlude – Three Songs by Florence Price
- Songs to the Dark Virgin
- Night
- Hold Fast to Dreams
Part Two – Loss, Letting Go and Hope
- Gaetano Donizetti – Prendi, per me sei libero from L’elisir d’amore
- Benjamin Britten – The Last Rose of Summer
- Clara Schumann – Ich stand in dunklen Träumen
- Franz Schubert – An den Mond
- Edvard Grieg – Ein Traum
- Richard Strauss – Morgen!
Soprano Penglei Liang recently completed a Master of Performance at the Royal College of Music, supported by the Audrey Sacher Award. She also holds a master’s degree in Musicology from the University of Edinburgh.
Her performances include Orff’s Carmina Burana, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle and Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël. She has also appeared in The Planets at the 2024 BBC Proms and performed as a concert soloist at the 2026 Great Malvern Festival of Singing.
Yuyao Qu is a collaborative pianist specialising in art song and chamber music. She completed her Artist Diploma in Collaborative Piano at the Royal College of Music in 2024 and holds a Master of Arts in Piano from the Royal Academy of Music.
Her international appearances include Birmingham Symphony Hall, St James’s Piccadilly, the Austrian Cultural Forum and venues in Switzerland, China and the United States. She is also an associate accompanist at the Royal College of Music and Eltham College.
The concert will be performed before a live audience and streamed on the St James’s Piccadilly YouTube channel from 1.10pm.
Admission is free, and no advance booking is required. Donations supporting the church’s creative programme are welcome.
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