Program

Johann Sebastian Bach, Partita No. 5 in G Major, BWV 829

Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 17 in D Minor, Op. 31 No. 2, "The Tempest"

1. Largo. Allegro

2. Adagio

3. Allegretto

Frédéric Chopin, Nocturnes, Op. 27

No. 1 in C sharp minor

No. 2 in D flat major

William Grant Still, Summerland

Florence Price, Fantaisie Nègre No. 1 in E Minor

Claude Debussy, Preludes, Book I

8. La fille aux cheveux de lin (The Girl with the Flaxen Hair)

Sergei Prokofiev, Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-flat Major, Op. 83

3. Precipitato

Jeneba Kanneh-Mason performs Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Still, Price, Debussy, and Prokofiev

Ruhr Piano Festival 2025

Subscribers

Cast

Jeneba Kanneh-Mason — Pianist

Program notes

Following in the footsteps of her musically gifted brothers and sisters, the extraordinary Jeneba Kanneh-Mason now takes to the iconic colliery at Zeche Zollern for a captivating program at the 2025 Ruhr Piano Festival. As part of the Youngsters series launched by the festival in 2024, the young pianist first presents exquisite classics by Bach, Chopin, and Beethoven, including the latter’s “Tempest” Sonata, known for its Shakespearean drama and emotional intensity that Jeneba delivers with artistry beyond her years. The second half of the program features works by African American composers William Grant Still and Florence Price, artists who were long overlooked due to racial prejudice but are now finally receiving the recognition they deserve on concert stages. Harlem Renaissance composer Still paints a lyrical portrait of beauty in the afterlife with Summerlands, and Florence Price’s Fantasie Nègre blends Romantic-era virtuosity with elements of African American musical traditions such as folk song and call-and-response textures.