Check out how artists and musicians developed their craft and their importance in shaping and expressing history.
Margaret Bonds was born on March 3, 1913 in Chicago, Illinois. Her father was a physician, and her mother was a piano teacher and church choral director. Margaret’s mother started teaching her piano at a very young age. When Margaret was 8 years old, she started studying at the Coleridge-Taylor Music School. (Remember Samuel …
Stephencdickson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons George Bridgetower was a violin virtuoso who lived from 1778 – 1860. He is most well-known for his friendship with Beethoven, but George himself was a highly accomplish prodigy who even earned the recognition of King George IV. George was half Eastern European and half West Indian. His …
Leontyne Price is a remarkable, highly decorated singer who broke many color barriers in the world of opera. She was born Mary Violent Leontyne Price on February 10, 1928 in Laurel, Mississippi. Her mother played a huge role in fostering her musical talents as she herself was a soprano, though she worked …
Robert McFerrin Sr. was the first Black man to sing at the Metropolitan Opera. He won the Met National Auditions in 1953, and his debut was in “Aida” in 1955, in the role of Amonasro. This was 3 weeks after Marian Anderson’s historic debut as the first Black person to sing …
Nina Simone was a legendary musician known as the “High Priestess of Soul” because of her hypnotizing voice and ability to make the listener become completely absorbed in her music. Her first hit was “I Loves You Porgy” in 1959, and it made the Top 10 charts. Over the course of her musical …
Ragtime is a novel turned into a musical that tells the story of American Americans, immigrants, and wealthy Americans. It touches upon subjects like racism, class distinction, political corruption, and police brutality. One of its most iconic songs is “Make them hear you.” This song is about telling the stories of …
Marian Anderson was a contralto singer who overcame Jim Crow America to become one of the most legendary singers in history. Born in Philadelphia in 1897, Marian started her singing career in the Union Baptist Church youth choir. The conductor, impressed by Marian’s talented voice and ability to sing any part of a hymn, whether it …
Florence Price composed over 300 musical works, and she became the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphony composer. Price was well aware of the obstacles she would face, as evidenced by her letter to Serge Koussevitzky, a legendary conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, where she said, …
