José White Lafitte
*José Silvestre White Lafitte, also known as Joseph White, was an Afro Cuban French violinist and composer born on this date in 1836.
Born in Matanzas, Cuba, his father, Don Carlos White, was Spanish, and his mother was Afro Cuban. After receiving early musical training from his father, an amateur violinist, White gave his first concert in Matanzas on March 21, 1854. He was accompanied by the visiting American pianist-composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk, "who encouraged him to pursue further violin studies in Paris and raised money to travel there." White initially studied at the Paris Conservatory with Jean-Delphin Alard between 1855 and 1871, winning the 1856 First Grand Prize.
He became a French citizen in 1870 and was highly praised by Rossini. From 1877 to 1889, White was director of the Imperial Conservatory in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he served as a court musician for Emperor Pedro II. In 1889, he returned to Paris, teaching violin, composing music, and performing concerts. Some of his more famous students were Jacque Thibaud and George Enescu.
José White died in Paris on March 12, 1918, at the age of 83. Cuba issued a postage stamp with his likeness in 1958 to honor him. His music has recently seen a revival in two recordings, Violin Concertos by Black Composers of the 18th and 19th Centuries (1997) and Cancion Sin Palabras (2002), and in 21st-century performances by The Ibero-America Ensemble.
