*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*Adolphus Hailstork was born on born April 17, 1941. He is a Black composer and educator. Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork III was born in Rochester, New York, and grew up in Albany, New York, where he studied violin, piano, organ, and voice. He is of African, Indigenous, and European ancestry. His works blend musical ideas from […]
learn more*Wendell Logan was born on this date in 1940. He was a Black jazz and classical composer of music. Wendell Morris Logan was born in Thomson, Georgia. His first musical studies were with his father, an amateur alto saxophonist. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music 1962 from Florida A&M University, which he had […]
learn more*The Society of Black Composers (SBC) is celebrated on this date in 1968. It was an African American composer collective. The SBC began in New York City. The collective hosted several concerts showcasing the works of Black composers. Members of the Society have made significant contributions to American musical culture, including contemporary jazz, classical music, […]
learn more*Alvin Singleton was born on this date in 1940. He is a Black composer. Born and raised in New York City, he received his music education from New York University (B.A.) and Yale School of Music (M.M.). Singleton was a Fulbright Scholar in Rome, Italy, from 1971-1985. After that, Singleton returned to the United States […]
learn more*Noel Da Costa was born on this date in 1929. He was a Black Nigerian-Jamaican composer, jazz violinist, and choral conductor. Noel G. Da Costa was born in Lagos, Nigeria, to parents from Kingston, Jamaica, who were Salvation Army missionaries. After returning to Jamaica while Da Costa was young, they emigrated to Harlem, New York. […]
learn more*Oliver Nelson was born on this date in 1932. He was a Black jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. Oliver Edward Nelson was born into a musical family in St. Louis, Missouri. His brother was a saxophonist who played with Cootie Williams in the 1940s, and his sister sang and played piano. Nelson began […]
learn more*Ida Shepley was born on this date in 1908. She was a Black British actress and singer. She was born Ida Mary Humphrey in Nantwich, U.K. Her father was Clement Humphrey, a Caribbean-born herbalist; her mother was Gladys May, born Worthington; she had a younger brother born in 1912. In 1919, her mother remarried John […]
learn more*Lawrence Brown was born on this date in 1893. He was a Black Gay vocalist (tenor), composer and pianist. Lawrence Benjamin Brown was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and raised by his father, Clark Benjamin Brown, and his stepmother, Cenia Brown. Lawrence’s birth mother died when he was three years old. Clark and his father were […]
learn more*Kermit Moore was born on this date in 1929. He was a Black conductor, cellist, and composer. Moore was born in Akron, Ohio. While still in high school, he studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music. In Manhattan, he studied the cello with Felix Salmond at the Juilliard School while simultaneously pursuing a master’s degree […]
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