Florence Price - Violin Concertos Nos.1 and 2; Ryan Cockerham - Before, It was Golden

Florence PRICE (1887-1953)

Violin Concerto No.2 (1952)*
Violin Concerto No.1 in D Major* (1939)

Ryan COCKERMAN
Before, It was Golden (2006)

Er-Gene Kahn (Violin)
Janacek Philharmonic

Ryan Cockerman

*world premiere recordings

It is indeed a cause for excitement when two concertos by Florence Price, the first African American woman to write a symphony performed by a major U.S. Orchestra, are recorded. There are no known performances of Price's first violin concerto, but the Violin Concerto No. 2, completed in 1952 was performed posthumously by its dedicatee, Minnie Cedargreen Jemberg at the opening of the Florence B. Price School in Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood in 1964. The two concertos are joined on this recording by a work for violin and orchestra by Ryan Cockerham, which is a tribute to Florence Price's home state of Arkansas. Violinist Er-Gene Kahng is on the faculty at the Universityof Arkansas in Fayetteville and is concertmaster of the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra. She is on the violin faculty at the Montecito International Music Festival, the Beverly Hills International Music Festival, and performs with the Bay View Music Festival string quartet. Ryan Cockerham's creative work has been exhibited and performed by leading arts and academic organizations around the world, including the English National Ballet, Art Expo Milano, and the Texas Ballet Theater, among many others.

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Ryan Cockerham is a composer/performer of contemporary art music and a designer of immersive sound and media installations.

Ryan's creative work has been exhibited and performed by leading arts and academic organizations around the world, including the English National Ballet, Texas Ballet Theater, The Print Room London, Institute of Contemporary Art London, Royal College of Art, Royal British Society of Sculptors, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bath House Cultural Center Dallas, Audi City Beijing, Art Expo Milano, and a number of galleries in both Europe and South America.

As a conductor, Ryan recently collaborated on the world premiere recordings of Florence Price’s two violin concerti, featuring Er-Gene Kahng, soloist, and the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra. The album, released by Albany Records, has received attention and praise from The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and NPR, among other publications.  Ryan has also conducted premieres of contemporary composers in venues such as the Church of St. Martin in the Fields and others.

Ryan has created several works for dance with choreographers in the US and UK. His 2015 collaboration with Jonathan Watkins on "Crash" was named one of North Texas' Top 10 Performing Arts events of the year. 

Further collaborations with multimedia artists and film directors have resulted in showcases at the Kansas City Fringe Festival, Houston Fringe Festival, Berlin Film Festival, Sao Paulo Film Festival, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, San Francisco International Film Festival, London Short Film Festival, China Image Film Festival, and the Tri-Cities film festival.

In 2016, Ryan established the Shadow Ensemble, a silent-film scoring ensemble which incorporates both electronic and acoustic instruments, improvised performative techniques and an immersive, engaging audiovisual experience for audiences. Ryan has also premiered his work through performances at a number of universities including the State University of New York Purchase, the University of Tulsa and the University of Arkansas, among others.


Ryan graduated with a Masters in Music Composition from the Royal College of Music in 2013, having been awarded the college’s highest honor for creative achievement