Generating page narration, please wait...

Overview

A conversation on the subject of Black and brown composers, musicians, and conductors in classical music doesn't usually spark a lively exchange about the latest concerts, published books, or recorded works. More often than not, the reaction is silence or a brief reply, which is not to say that conductors and artists around the world are not performing orchestral commissions and compositions. If the topic of Black and brown musicians comes up, some people will probably think of Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, or maybe James Brown or Public Enemy. But few will think of Francis (Frank) Johnson or William Grant Still or a host of other Black American classical composers. However, several semesters would not be enough to cover the wealth of material produced by classical musicians of the African diaspora. So, what happened to these African American composers, musicians, and conductors who contributed to the classical music traditions of America?

Be ready to:

Identify the lives of notable Black classical composers, conductors, and musical performers.

Demonstrate the concept of the linkage between the music of the "old guard"-musicians of yesteryear-and their impact on the contemporary Black classical musicians and compositions.

Describe the importance of Slave Songs of the United States and Music and Some Highly Musical People to the development of the survey of American music history.

List a few important African American classical singers who were strategic to the early development of establishing the bar for singers of the twentieth century.

Identify classical singers who were influential upon concert life in Black America during the first half of the twentieth century.

Discover Music

Discover Video

Keywords

Listening Guides

References

The New Artists on the Block: 1900-2021

This brings us to the modern era of Black American composers. The following is a selected list.

Selected Composers of the Modern and Postmodern Eras
Ulysses Kay (1917-95)	David Baker (1931-2016)	Julia Perry (1924-79)
George Walker (1922-)	Olly Wilson (1937-2018)	Arthur Cunningham (1928-97)
Hale Smith (1925-2009)	Wendell Logan (1940-2010)	Leslie Adams (1932-)
T.J. Anderson (1928-)	Tania Leon (1943-)	Alvin Singleton (1940-)
Frederick Tillis (1930-2020)	Howard Swanson (1907-78)	Adolphus Hailstork (1941-)
		Dorothy Rudd Moore (1940-)
Selected Composers Born After 1950
Anthony Davis (1951-)	Jeffrey Mumford (1955-)	Michael Abels (1962-)
Donal Fox (1952-)	Regina H. Baiocchi (1956-)	Nkeiru Okoye (1972-)
Lettie Alston (1953-2014)	Gregory Walker (1961-)	Daniel B Roumain (1972-)
William C Banfield	Jonathan Bailey Holland	Anthony Kelley
Gary Powell Nash	Evelyn Simpson-Curenton (1953-)	James Kimo Williams
Shawn E. Okpebholo (1981-)

Considering that the composer and arranger Francis Johnson, in 1817, was the first Black band leader to have his musical compositions published (Mack 2010), it is plausible to state that composers of Johnson's musical-stature have been contributing to the classical music landscape of the United States for over 200 years. Their musical styles cover a wide spectrum of genres and make use of vast array musical technique. These "Black Beethovens," as stated by Banfield, should not be invisible. Should not the American musical landscape which is rich and diverse reflect its nation? In the preface of Eileen Southern's SIDE NOTE American Musicologist First Black female to be given tenure at Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Science Journals: The Black Perspective in Music (1973-1991), ed. Eileen Southern most influential book, The Music of Black America, she states "The [B]lack musician has created an entirely new music-in a style peculiarly Afro-American-that today spreads its influence over the entire world. And ever since his arrival in the New World, he has enriched with his contributions the European-based musical traditions of the nation" (Southern 1983, xv).

William C. Banfield

Can you imagine American music without the work of Black composers or without Black music in general? Still, there is a refusal, a denial, of that reality.

Eileen Southern

The Black musician has created an entirely new music-in a style peculiarly Afro-American-that today spreads its influence over the entire world. And ever since his arrival in the New World, he has enriched with his contributions the European-based musical traditions of the nation.