Fourteen years ago, a stack of music was found amongst the archived papers of the African-American Chicagoan composer Florence Price: it was her long-lost cantata Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, set to the poem by Springfield native Vachel Lindsay. And now this lost & found masterpiece will be heard for the first time in Springfield, the city of both Lincoln and Lindsay. Coming this February, the Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight Festival will explore the legacies of these three local luminaries—Lincoln, Lindsay, and Price—through a constellation of events, leading up to a performance of Price’s cantata at the UIS Performing Arts Center. The festival will be presented by the Springfield Choral Society and UIS Music, in partnership with the Springfield and Central Illinois African-American History Museum (AAHM), the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
All events are free of charge. Reservations are required for the event at the AAHM and suggested for the Lindsay Home tours. Information on the specific events here below:
Don’t You Tell Me No: The Life of Florence Price in Story and Song
Thursday, Feb. 22, 7:30pm, First Presbyterian Church
Tiffany Williams, Reggie Guyton, Bonnie Ettinger, Springfield Choral Society ensembles
In Our Little Town: A Musical Conversation About Race
Friday, Feb. 23, 6:30pm, African-American History Museum (5:30 Guided Museum Tour)
Illinois Symphony Orchestra String Quartet & Panel Discussion
Part of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra's "Around the Town" Concert Series
Reservations required (max. capacity 100): Event RSVP or springfieldchoralsociety@gmail.com
Lincoln Walks at the Lindsay Home (30' guided tours)
Saturday, Feb. 24, 1:30, 2:30 & 3:30pm, Vachel Lindsay Home
Tour Reservations (suggested, but not required): https://LincolnWalksatVLH.eventbrite.com
Abraham Lincoln Walks At Midnight: Festival Concert
Saturday, Feb. 24, 7:30pm, UIS Performing Arts Center
Springfield Choral Society, UIS Orchestra, Conductor Jacobsen Woollen