Black conductors

Summary

Black conductors are musicians of African, Caribbean, African-American ancestry and other members of the African diaspora who are musical ensemble leaders who direct classical music performances, such as an orchestral or choral concerts, or jazz ensemble big band concerts by way of visible gestures with the hands, arms, face and head. Conductors of African descent are rare, as the vast majority are male and Caucasian.

James DePreist (1936–2013), one of the first African-American conductors on the world stage, is congratulated by President George W. Bush after receiving the National Medal of Arts in 2005.

History edit

1900s edit

 
Benjamin Steinberg conducting the premiere concert of the US's first racially integrated orchestra, the Symphony of the New World at Carnegie Hall on May 6, 1965

In the early 1930s, African-American conductor Dean Dixon (1915–1976) found that his pursuit of conducting engagements was stifled because of racial bias. As a result, he formed his own orchestra and choral society in 1931. In 1940, three conductors: African Americans Everett Lee and Dean Dixon, and Jewish American Benjamin Steinberg "...attempted to circumvent the institutionalised racism in American classical music by forming an orchestra of black musicians. But the project failed for financial reasons..." Steinberg established an orchestra of 36 black and 52 white musicians, when he formed the Symphony of the New World in 1964. It was the first fully racially integrated orchestra in the US, and held its premiere concert at Carnegie Hall on May 6, 1965.

In 1945, Everett Lee was the "first African American to conduct a major Broadway production". Leonard Bernstein asked Lee to conduct On the Town, which marked the "first time a black conductor led an all-white production".[1] In 1953, Lee was the "first black musician to conduct a white symphony orchestra in the south of the States...in Louisville, Kentucky".[1] In 1955, Lee was the "first musician of colour to conduct a major opera company in the US with a performance of La traviata at the New York City Opera". In 1955 William Grant Still conducted the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra and became the first African American to conduct a major orchestra in the Deep South of the US. Henry Lewis (1932–1996) was the first African American to lead a major symphony orchestra. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1972. Lewis found it hard to "...take on the role of an authoritarian conductor, because such a role was unacceptable for a black man" at this time.[2]

In the early 1950s, impresario Arthur Judson, head of Columbia Artists Management told Everett Lee that despite Lee's excellent reviews for conducting, a black conductor could not conduct a white orchestra in the US. Judson stated that black instrumentalists could play solo concertos with white orchestras, dance in white productions and sing in white productions, but leading a white orchestra was not feasible. In 1969, James Frazier won the Cantelli Prize in Italy, and in the 1970s went on to conduct several important orchestras, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, London's New Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, the Spanish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, the Belarusian State Philharmonic and the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra.[3] Frazier, however, died young in 1981, just after being named conductor of the Bogota Symphony.[4]

Isaiah Jackson (born 1945) was the first black principal conductor of The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, in 1986, and became its music director 1987–90.

2000s edit

According to a 2004 article in The Guardian, "black conductors are rare in the classical music world and even in symphony orchestras it is unusual to see more than one or two black musicians." Canadian-born black conductor Kwamé Ryan, who studied music at Cambridge University and in Germany, made his professional conducting debut in 2004. Ryan says the "...message given to young, black people, particularly in North America, was... that you can be a star athlete; you can be a pop star...[but the] possibility for black children [to become a conductor] is not encouraged in schools or in the media."[5] Ryan states that young blacks have a lack of "...exposure [to black conductor role models] and it is a deficit that is passed on from generation to generation". Ryan said he has "no optimism for the future".[5] In the United Kingdom, the research by Scott Caizley argues how through the systemic removal of quality music education in UK state schools, many young people are losing opportunities which is contributing to fewer black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) young people participating in classical music.[6]

Notable individuals edit

Classical music edit

Historically, the vast majority of classical music conductors have been Caucasian. However, there are a small number of notable conductors who are of African, Caribbean or African-American ancestry. Contemporary Black conductors still comprise a small percentage of the conductors working today and are often overlooked for positions as chief conductors of major orchestras.[citation needed]

  • Charles-Richard Lambert (died 1862) was a black American musician, conductor and music educator. He and his family were noted for talent in music and gained international acclaim.[7] He worked as a music teacher and was a conductor for the Philharmonic Society, the first non-theatrical orchestra in New Orleans.[8] One of his notable students was Edmond Dédé.[9]
 
William Grant Still (1895–1978) was one of the first African Americans to conduct a major American symphony orchestra in the Deep South.
  • William Grant Still (1895–1978) was one of the first African Americans to conduct a major American symphony orchestra in the Deep South, the first to have a symphony (his first symphony) performed by a leading orchestra, the first to have an opera performed by a major opera company, and the first to have an opera performed on national television. As a classical composer, he wrote more than 150 compositions. After finishing college, he won a scholarship to study at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Between 1919 and 1921, he worked as an arranger for W. C. Handy's band. In the 1930s, he arranged music for many films. In 1955 he conducted the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra and became the first African American to conduct a major orchestra in the Deep South.
  • Leonard De Paur (1914–1998) attended the Juilliard School and Columbia University. He was a student of the composer Henry Cowell and the conductor Pierre Monteux.[10] From 1932 to 1936 he was the assistant conductor of the Hall Johnson Choir. He served as music director with the Federal Negro Theatre from 1936 until 1939 while collaborating with a young Orson Welles.[10][11] From 1947 to 1968, he conducted more than 2,000 performances with such groups as: the De Paur Infantry Chorus, the De Paur Opera Gala, the De Paur Gala and the De Paur Chorus[11] which toured in 18 African nations for the United States Information Agency. He was also a regular conductor of Symphony of the New World and Opera South. In the realm of network television he was an arranger and conductor for such noted programs as The Bell Telephone Hour and the Hallmark Hall of Fame.[10] He is credited with establishing the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival and was the director of Community Relations at Lincoln Center for 17 years.[12] He received honorary doctorates from Lewis And Clark and Morehouse College.[10]
  • Dean Dixon (1915–1976) studied conducting with Albert Stoessel at the Juilliard School and Columbia University. When early pursuits of conducting engagements were stifled because of racial bias (he was African-American), he formed his own orchestra and choral society in 1931. In 1941, he guest-conducted the NBC Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic during its summer season. He later guest-conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 1948 he won the Ditson Conductor's Award. Dixon was honoured by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) with the Award of Merit for encouraging the participation of American youth in music. In 1948, Dixon was awarded the Alice M. Ditson award for distinguished service to American music.
  • Everett Lee (1916–2022) "was [a]...violinist who led the orchestra in the original Broadway production of Carmen Jones and played the oboe on stage in the country club scene".[1] In 1945, he was the "first African American to conduct a major Broadway production". Leonard Bernstein asked Lee to conduct On the Town, which marked the "first time a black conductor led an all-white production".[1] In 1946, Lee won a Koussevitzky Music Foundation Award to conduct at Tanglewood.[1] In 1952, he was appointed director of the opera department at Columbia University and was also awarded a Fulbright scholarship that allowed him to travel to Europe.[1] In 1953, Lee was the "first black musician to conduct a white symphony orchestra in the south of the States...in Louisville, Kentucky".[1] In 1955, he was the "first musician of colour to conduct a major opera company in the US with a performance of La traviata at the New York City Opera". He was appointed chief conductor of the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra in Sweden in 1962. In 1976, he conducted the New York Philharmonic for the first time, and he performed a piece by African-American composer David Baker for Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. In 1979, he became music director of the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra in Colombia.[1]
  • George Byrd (1926–2010) studied at Juilliard from 1947, but because of discrimination moved to the Paris Conservatory in 1951. On recommendation from Hans Knappertsbusch he got a guest spot with the Munich Philharmonic and throughout Europe. His career was further enhanced after attending a master class of Herbert von Karajan. But due to discrimination in Europe, he sought and gained a position in Addis Abeba, Ethiopa, where he founded the Ethiopian Symphony Orchestra and a conservatory. In addition to the many European languages that he already spoke, he acquired some Amharic there. Byrd conducted the American Ballet Theatre in 1967 and the Symphony of the New World in 1970. Through the Fulbright Program, he was invited to the Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil, where he taught conducting, gave master classes, led a madrigal choir and an opera ensemble. Byrd stayed in Brazil until 1976. He returned to Europe and worked with many German and other European orchestras and German and Swedish radio and television. Byrd also appeared as actor in film and TV; he played an America soldier in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 1978 film The Marriage of Maria Braun opposite Hanna Schygulla, and a lead role in the 1984 TV film Warten auf Beethoven.
 
Henry Lewis and Marilyn Horne in 1961, photo by Carl Van Vechten
 
David Baker (left) leads the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra during the NEA Jazz Masters awards ceremony and concert in 2008.

Jazz and popular music edit

In jazz and popular music, the leader of an ensemble may also be called a bandleader.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Pliable (July 25, 2011). "'I don't believe in Negro symphony conductors'". overgrownpath.com. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  2. ^ Paxton, Helen S., "Black Conductors; A Symphony of Stature" (letter to the editor), The New York Times, October 25, 1992. "The writer is the director of marketing and communications for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra."
  3. ^ Funke, Phyllis (November 30, 1975). "A Black Conductor Pushes the Cause of Music". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 9, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  4. ^ "The Maestros". Ebony. Vol. 44, no. 4. 1989. p. 60. ISSN 0012-9011.
  5. ^ a b c Higgins, Charlotte, "Black conductor fears he will remain exception", The Guardian, August 10, 2004.
  6. ^ "ABRSM must include more black and BAME composers in exam syllabus, music leaders urge". Classic FM. July 16, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  7. ^ Macdonald, Robert R.; Kemp, John R.; Haas, Edward F. (1979). Louisiana's Black Heritage.
  8. ^ Price III, Emmett George (2010). Encyclopedia of African American Music. Vol. 3. ABC-CLIO. p. 219. ISBN 9780313342004.
  9. ^ Sybil Kein, Creole: The History and Legacy of Louisiana's Free People of Color, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2000, pp. 80–82, accessed December 28, 2010
  10. ^ a b c d Anthony Tommasini. "Leonard De Paur Dies at 83; Lincoln Center Administrator", The New York Times, 11 November 1998.
  11. ^ a b Woods, Timothy E., Leonard De Paur's Arrangement of Spirituals, Work Songs, and African Songs as Contribution to Choral Music. Diss. University of Arizona, 1998.
  12. ^ Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ A Dictionary for the Modern Composer, Emily Freeman Brown, Scarecrow Press, Oxford, 2015, p. 311 ISBN 9780810884014 "Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra founded by Samuel Adler in 1952 conductor Henry Lewis 1955–1956"
  14. ^ Uncle Sam's Orchestra: Memories of the Seventh Army Orchestra John Canaria, University of Rochester Press 1998 ISBN 9781580460 194 Seventh Army Symphony
  15. ^ New Music New Allies Amy C. Beal, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2006, p. 49, ISBN 978-0-520-24755-0 "Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra (1952–1962) performing works by Roy Harris, Morton Gould and Leroy Anderson" and cultural diplomacy
  16. ^ a b Erik Eriksson. James DePreist: Biography at AllMusic. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  17. ^ PACO people Archived April 13, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ The Harbus
  19. ^ Cunningham, Carl (June 25, 1989). "Untitled". Houston Post.
  20. ^ Greenfield, Phil (February 5, 1998). Candidate Dunner has trio of talents; Diversity: Leslie Dunner, who is vying for the directorship of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, is a talented conductor, composer and clarinetist Archived November 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, The Baltimore Sun, Retrieved November 22, 2010
  21. ^ Voynovskaya, Nastia (August 20, 2021). "Michael Morgan, Visionary Oakland Symphony Conductor, Dies at Age 63". KQED Inc. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  22. ^ "Nommé directeur artistique et musical de l'Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Paul Daniel prendra ses fonctions en septembre 2013" (PDF) (Press release). Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine. July 15, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 9, 2013. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  23. ^ "Sisters in the Spotlight". Ebony. March 2003. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
  24. ^ AfriClassical (February 18, 2012). "Marlon Daniel and Tatarstan State". AfriClassical. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  25. ^ IMusici. "Marlon Daniel: A Voice for Cultural Diversity". IMusici. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  26. ^ Africlassical (July 31, 2018). "Marlon Daniel Wins Prize at Bucharest". Africlassical. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  27. ^ "Marlon Daniel: Biography". Marlon Daniel Biography. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  28. ^ De Lerma, Dominique-Rene. "African Heritage Symphonic Series Vol. III". Liner note essay. Cedille Records CDR066.

Further reading edit

  • Michael Bowles: The Art of Conducting (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1959); English edition as The Conductor: His Artistry and Craftsmanship (London: G. Bell & Sons, 1961).
  • Larry G. Curtis and David L. Kuehn: A Guide to Successful Instrumental Conducting (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1992); ISBN 978-0697126948.
  • Michel Faul: Louis Jullien: Musique, spectacle et folie au XIXe siècle (Biarritz: Atlantica, 2006); ISBN 9782351650387.
  • Elliott W. Galkin: A History of Orchestral Conducting in Theory and Practice (New York: Pendragon Press, 1988); ISBN 978-0918728470.
  • Antoinette D. Handy: Black Conductors. Scarecrow Press, 1995; ISBN 9780810829305.
  • Norman Lebrecht: The Maestro Myth: Great Conductors in Pursuit of Power (2nd revised and updated edition, New York: Citadel Press, 2001).
  • Brock McElheran: Conducting Technique for Beginners and Professionals (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989); ISBN 978-0193858305.
  • Ilya Musin: The Technique of Conducting (Техника дирижирования) (Moscow: Muzyka Publishing House, 1967).
  • Ennio Nicotra: Introduction to the Orchestral Conducting Technique in Accordance with the Orchestral Conducting School of Ilya Musin, book and DVD in English, German, Italian, Spanish (Milan: Edizioni Curci, 2007).
  • Frederik Prausnitz: Score and Podium (New York: W. W. Norton, 1983); ISBN 978-0393951547.
  • Max Rudolf: The Grammar of Conducting (New York: Macmillan, 2nd ed. 1981); ISBN 978-0028722207.