Q&A with Boston Conservatory Choral Conductor Stephen Spinelli

Though he has spent the bulk of his career conducting choral music, Stephen Spinelli makes historical research an integral part of his artistic practice. Fueled by a deep curiosity about—and compassion for—composers who have been “historically erased,” he cofounded the non-profit organization ONEcomposer with the goal of restoring lost legacies. In addition to his roles as assistant professor of choral studies at Boston Conservatory and music director of the Back Bay Chorale, Spinelli makes it his mission to track down old manuscripts then digitize, engrave, and publish them, so that present-day musicians can give new life to forgotten compositions.

But the job doesn’t end there. If they are ever to receive their due, Spinelli says, these overlooked works also must be interpreted and performed by exemplary artists, both on stage and in the recording studio. To that end, he coproduced the album Beyond the Years: Unpublished Songs of Florence Price, sung by the inimitable Metropolitan Opera soprano Karen Slack. Their collaboration won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album in February 2025, and this fall, Slack has been conducting a mini-tour, showcasing Price’s recovered art songs. Slack will perform a Beyond the Years recital at Boston Conservatory’s Seully Hall on October 21 with pianist Scott Nicholas. 

In this Q&A, Spinelli explains how research informs his teaching, and why Price—who was once an undergraduate studying music in Boston—has become a perpetual source of inspiration for him.

How did Florence Price come to be the focus of your historical research?

When you have your terminal degree, and you discover that this incredible Black woman—who graduated high school at 14, went to New England Conservatory at 16, was the only double major in her class, had a symphony premiered in 1933 by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, arranged spirituals for the great Marian Anderson and had them sung in front of 70,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial—and you’ve never heard her name, it makes you think, “Oh god, what was I sold?”

And you realize as you dig into the archives that Florence Price is an exceptional example of a broader phenomenon. There are all these questions you start to have about how that happens, and how you as a professor (and let’s name the fact that I’m a white male professor) can be a force for good, not stick to the same playbook that led me to the place where I was left surprised by these histories.

“Having seen these pieces first in a box and then putting them into an engraving software and sitting with them at my piano ... then going through the recording process and the Grammy and everything, it’ll be really special to see that on our own campus here. I almost can’t take it.”

What do you find most inspiring about Price?

Every time I turn back to the research, there’s some new dimension. She isn’t just a composer. If she were, it would still be amazing, but I am keenly aware that she was a fabulous keyboard player, because when you look at these accompaniments, you know that she wrote those for herself. So her technique was off the charts.

Also, one of the most moving recent experiences I had was locating a conducting score. It’s the latest manuscript of hers that I’ve handled, and it’s from the 1950s, right before she died. It has this incredibly evolved harmonic language with rapid harmonic shifts, and the enharmonicism and her ability to move through keys so fluidly creates these colors that you can’t imagine. Then to realize that she was the conductor of the performance, and to see every little note she took in red pencil—to me, as conductor, it was so special to add that dimension.

Your work restoring and publishing forgotten manuscripts helps to connect present-day musicians with historically overlooked composers. Why did you find it necessary to branch out into recording as well? 

The most carefully engraved score—if it’s not accompanied by a high-level recording—rarely finds a lasting foothold in performance and pedagogy. Students today, when they encounter a piece, a composer, or a text that piques their interest, the recordings that they find often shape their entire perception of the value of the work. If the recordings are poor, they draw conclusions about the work’s merit. I say that about students, but it’s the same for anyone. Your brain says something to you, like, “This isn’t good.” And so [with ONEcomposer], we’re not going to leave work in the publication phase, we are going to find it the best magnifying glass that we can.

And Karen Slack is a pretty great magnifying glass.

She is! I’m a longtime superfan of Karen Slack. In Chicago, when I was a doctoral student there, she was doing Serena in Porgy and Bess at the Lyric. She sang “My Man’s Gone Now” to close the first act, and I burst into tears. My husband looked at me like, “Are you okay?” And I was like, “I don’t know.” But I thought, that’s incredible what she just did. Everyone knows “Summertime,” but she took this other thing and, through her communication, completely stole the show.

She was a driving creative force in what Beyond the Years looked like, and which pieces spoke to her. Everything about that album is reflective of her entrepreneurship and her artistry.

How has working with Karen affected your relationship with Price’s compositions?

The pieces are evolving in Karen as a storyteller. You can see how committed she is to really finding the expression in the stories, in the music, and the way she’s using her voice, and the pacing and the delivery of the poetry. It’s growing and changing, and it’s so incredibly meaningful to see that change. Having seen these pieces first in a box and then putting them into an engraving software and sitting with them at my piano, humming and playing lines, clumsily—then going through the recording process and the Grammy and everything—it’ll be really special to see that on our own campus here. I almost can’t take it.

Florence Price lived in this city on 31 Batavia Street, which has since been renamed Symphony Road. I happen to walk by there all the time and wonder, “What would you think if one of the great American sopranos—just two blocks down the street—was doing a whole recital-length performance of your work as an homage to your incredible legacy?” 

What would that mean to an 18-year-old Florence Price?

That’s the same age as a lot of your own students. 

I’m inspired by Price in that she—despite disadvantages—persisted, that she had this creative voice that she just couldn’t silence and was not going to be silenced. But I’m also hopeful that that example paves pathways for all kinds of people to see the possibility for themselves, in and beyond my classroom spaces.

Karen Slack will visit Boston Conservatory to perform Beyond the Years on October 21 after presenting a master class for students on October 19. Both events are free and open to the public. Listen to the Grammy–winning album below.