"Fanmi Imèn" for flute and piano

Valerie Coleman (1970) is an internationally acclaimed American composer, Grammy-nominated flutist, and entrepreneur.
Born and raised in the West End of Louisville, Kentucky, Coleman grew up in the same neighborhood as boxing legend Muhammad Ali. After her father passed away when she was nine, she was raised by her mother, a single working parent and lifelong daycare educator. Coleman’s mother noted she began "playing" the flute as a toddler, using sticks from the backyard. She started formal music lessons in the fourth grade at age 11. By age 14, Coleman had already written three full-length symphonies on a portable organ at home and won multiple local and state competitions.
She earned a double bachelor's degree in Theory/Composition and Flute Performance from Boston University and later a Master’s degree in Flute Performance from Mannes College of Music.
In 1996, Coleman founded the Grammy-nominated woodwind quintet Imani Winds. She served as the group’s resident composer and flutist for over 20 years, creating signature works like Umoja. Her orchestral works have been commissioned and performed by the "Big Five" American orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra (the first living African American woman they ever commissioned), the New York Philharmonic, and the Chicago Symphony.
Valerie Coleman describes her compositional style as
"urban-classical," a hybrid language that infuses modern Western art music traditions with popular American and world idioms. She weaves together classical forms with jazz, Afro-Cuban traditions, gospel, and Kentucky bluegrass. Her music often moves fluidly between these styles, such as a smoky tango or polyrhythmic lines suggesting a Cuban clave or James Brown. Coleman frequently blends European, Asian, Middle Eastern, and African styles to create a technical "melting pot".
In addition to her role at Juilliard (appointed 2024), she has held faculty positions at the Manhattan School of Music, Mannes School of Music, and the Frost School of Music.