LFAM | African American Music for Voice and Piano

Curated by visionary Cuban-American conductor-composer, Odaline de la Martínez, the five-day London Festival of American Music (LFAM) aims to promote the work of outstanding American composers who are well established at home but less well known to UK audiences.
A deeply moving recital tracing the arc of African American art song, from the classics of Florence Price, Undine Smith Moore, Margaret Bonds and William Grant Still to George Walker, Moses Hogan, and Hall Johnson — alongside the world of Britney Boykin's Moments in Sonder.
PROGRAMME
Florence Price Night | Hold Fast to Dreams | Travel's End | Sympathy
Britney Boykin Moments in Sonder
George Gershwin 'Summertime' from Porgy and Bess
Undine Smith Moore I am in Doubt | I Want to Die while you Love Me | Lyric for True Love
William Grant Still 'Give me no Body without your Soul' from Blue Steel | GriefMargaret Bonds Three Dream Portraits
George Walker I Got a Letter from Jesus | Ev'ry Time I Feel de Spirit
Moses Hogan Were you There?
Hall Johnson Ride on King Jesus
ARTISTS
Roberta Philip soprano
Valentina Wang piano
A versatile opera and jazz singer, Roberta Philip has been praised for her 'powerfully expressive' (The Opera Critic) and 'outstanding voice' (The Stage). She won first place in the 2024 Edith Poulsen Singing Prize Competition and was a finalist in this year’s Ashburnham English Song Awards. Roberta was a 2024 British Youth Opera Serena Fenwick artist and 2023-24 Pegasus Opera Company mentee.
Valentina Wang is an Italian collaborative pianist based in London. A graduate of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama’s Artist Diploma in Piano Accompaniment, she previously studied Solo Piano Performance at Conservatorio Peri in Reggio Emilia, where she received the Giovanna and Fabrizia Magnani Scholarship. Winner of the 2025 Guildhall Jubilee Accompaniment Prize, she was also a finalist in the 2026 Ashburnham English Song Awards and the International Bacewicz Chamber Music Competition. She has performed at the Barbican Concert Hall, St James’s Piccadilly, and major venues and festivals across the UK, Italy and Finland, and is a freelance accompanist at Guildhall.