*Mark Oakland Fax, a child prodigy born in Baltimore, Maryland, was born on this date in 1911. He was a Black composer and a professor of music. By age fourteen, Fax worked as a theater organist, playing scores for silent films in Baltimore’s Regent Theater on Saturdays and gospel music at a Black church on […]
learn more*Frederick Tillis was born on this date in 1930. He was a Black composer, jazz saxophonist, poet, and collegiate music educator. Born in Galveston, Texas, Frederick Charles Tillis was raised by his mother, Zelma Bernice Gardner Tillis, his stepfather, General Gardner, and his maternal grandparents, Willie Tillis and Jessie Tillis-Hubbard. His mother played piano and […]
learn more*Regina Harris Baiocchi was born on July 16, 1956. She is a Black music educator, composer, and writer of short stories and poetry. Regina A. Harris was the third of eight children born in Chicago to Elgie Harris Jr. and Lanzie Mozelle (Belmont) Harris. She was exposed to the arts early, took guitar lessons at […]
learn more*Betty Allen was born on this date in 1927. She was a Black operatic mezzo-soprano and teacher. She was born Elizabeth Louise Allen (or Betty Lou) in Campbell, Ohio, near Youngstown. Her father was a college-educated math teacher who worked in a steel mill as racial segregation during the 1930s. Her mother earned extra money […]
learn more*Zenobia Powell Perry was born on October 3, 1908. She was a Black composer, professor, and civil rights activist. She was born Zenobia Powell in Boley, Oklahoma, to physician Calvin B. Powell and Birdie Thompson Powell (of some Creek Indian heritage). Her family was well-educated and middle-class. Her grandfather, who had been a slave, sang […]
learn more*Joyce Solomon Moorman was born on May 11, 1946. She is a Black composer and educator. Joyce Solomon was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, and grew up in Columbia, South Carolina. She attended segregated public schools through high school. Moorman earned a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College in 1968 and, in 1971, a Master’s Degree from […]
learn more*Nadia Boulanger was born on September 16, 1887. She was a white French music teacher, conductor, and composer. From a musical family, from the age of seven, Juliette Nadia Boulanger studied in preparation for her Conservatoire entrance exams, sitting in on their classes and having private lessons with its teachers. She achieved early honors as […]
learn more*Muriel Burrell Smith was born on this date in 1923. She was a Black singer. Smith was born in New York City. Her early life remains obscure. She appeared on the popular radio series Major Bowes’ Amateur Hour in 1937. After singing at a cocktail party in 1939, one of the guests, Elizabeth Westmoreland, arranged […]
learn more*Leota O. Palmer’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1904. She was a Black musician and music teacher. She and her twin brother were born in Oberlin to Columbus and Lelia Palmer, owners of a popular restaurant and bakery. She enrolled in the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in high school, studied piano, and graduated […]
learn moreBrian Stroud is an adult man with cognitive abilities who lives and works independently. In this 2017 segment, he shares what he enjoyed about some of the teachers he had while in school.
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