A Bermudian pianist who performed the works of one of her musical idols made history after being one of the first Black women to receive a Grammy award in classical music.

Michelle Cann was included on stage when she and vocalist Karen Slack were deemed Best Classical Vocal Solo during the 67th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday.

The pair received the recognition for their album Beyond the Years — Unpublished Songs of Florence Price, inspired by the works of the Black composer.

Ms Cann said: “I have such mixed emotions. On one hand I feel so honoured to be able to sort of, in some senses, bring her back to life.

“She passed and she could’ve just been lost to history and generations to come would not even know her name.

“So the fact that we’ve unearthed this music and brought her story back to life — I just feel honoured to have been part of that journey.”

She added: “On the other hand there’s a bit of a sadness, because she’s not here to get it.

“We did an album fully of her music and if she were a living composer, she’d be there at the Grammys.”

Ms Cann, who was born to Bermudian parents and grew up in Florida, said that she and Ms Slack made history as the first duo of Black women to win in their category.

She added that the feat was especially awe-inspiring because the two represented a Black woman composer in a field often dominated by White men.

Florence Price, originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, was a music teacher and chamber musician who performed throughout the US until her death in 1953, aged 66.

She is the first African-American woman to be recognised as a symphony composer.

Despite having written more than 300 pieces, much of her work was overlooked at the time because of her race and gender.

Mr Cann said that she had taken on the project to build on Ms Price’s legacy after dozens of unpublished manuscripts were discovered in the attic of the late musician’s old summer home in 2009.

She explained that a programme called One Composed dedicated itself to publishing these manuscripts and bringing her music back to life.

She said that she and Ms Slack were contacted to perform and record Beyond the Years between 2023 and 2024.

Ms Price said that she had always been a fan of Florentine Price’s music — a quality that made One Composer approach her for the album — and had been fascinated by her since 2016.

She added that it was fascinating to recognise that most listeners were unaware of the classical-style aspect of Ms Price’s music, who was best known as a gospel artist during her time.

Ms Cann said it was very common for Black composers to be pigeonholed into writing gospel music and being kept out of other classical-style genres.

She likened it to the backlash towards superstar Beyoncé Knowles, who was commonly known for singing rhythm and blues, when she released her country album Cowboy Carter.

Ms Cann recognised that Cowboy Carter later won three Grammy awards on Sunday for Best Country Duo/Group Performance, Best Country Album―the first album by a Black woman to do so―and Album of the Year.

But she pointed out that the mentality that Black artists should not be in certain categories was still pervasive — and had been even more so during Ms Price’s time.

Ms Cann added: “I am grateful that I could do this in her honour, because she deserves this.”

Ms Cann said that she hoped to make Ms Price’s music more accessible for future listeners.

Ms Cann holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Paul Schenly and Daniel Shapiro, and an Artist’s Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Robert McDonald.

She joined the Curtis Institute’s piano faculty in 2020 as the inaugural Eleanor Sokoloff Chair in Piano Studies. She is also on the piano faculty of the Manhattan School of Music.