Afro-British musician, composer, and orchestra leader Joseph Antonio Emidy is believed to have been born sometime in the year 1775 in Guinea, West Africa. Enslaved at age 12, Portuguese traders brought him to Brazil, where Jesuit priests, recognizing his natural talent and intelligence, taught him … Read MoreJoseph Antonio Emidy (a.k.a. Joseph Emedy and Joseph Emedee, 1775-1835)
Law professor and legal activist Henry W. “Hank” McGee, Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 31, 1932, to Henry W. McGee, Sr., from Hillsboro, Texas, the first African American Postmaster appointed by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, and Attye Belle Truesdale McGee, from … Read MoreHenry W. “Hank” McGee, Jr. (1932-2024)
Virtuoso Afro-Cuban pianist Felix Spengler was born on March 17, 1960, in La Habana, Cuba to Noemi and Felix Spengler, Sr. He has two siblings and began his musical career at 4, studying violin in Cuba with violinist Alfredo Muñoz and later with Misha Vitenson … Read MoreFelix Spengler (1960- )
Carmen Arlene Balthrop-Delaney, soprano and arts advocate, was born May 14, 1948, in Washington, D.C., to John W. Balthrop, who was employed by the U.S. Department of Justice in the Printing Office, and Clementine E. Jordan Balthrop, a homemaker. Carmen was the youngest and only … Read MoreCarmen Balthrop (1948-2021)
Mezzo-soprano Muriel Burrell Smith was born on February 23, 1923, in Harlem, New York City, to Sigourney Burrell Smith and Olive Gilmore Smith. At age 14, Smith got an artistic boost when she appeared on The Major Bowes Amateur Hour that aired live every Thursday … Read MoreMuriel Burrell Smith (1923-1985)
Composer, librettist, saxophonist Anthony Braxton was born on June 4, 1945, in Chicago, Illinois, to Clarence Dunbar Braxton, Sr., from Greenville, Mississippi, and Julia Samuels Braxton from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Braxton had three brothers. Braxton grew up in Chicago and from 1959 to 1963, he attended … Read MoreAnthony Braxton (1945- )
Opera composer, librettist, composer, violinist, pedagogic, and activist Daniel Bernard Roumain was born on May 3, 1971 in Skokie, Illinois. He was reared, however, in Margate, Florida, His parents are Haitians, and he has one son, Zachary. Roumain began playing the violin at the age … Read MoreDaniel Bernard Roumain (1971- )
Composer, librettist, and pianist Michael D. Raphael was born January 12, 1952, in Norfolk, Virginia, to Latham Hill, Sr., a factory worker, and Lillian Walton Hill, a trained social worker. His name at birth was Michael Hill. He grew up in the mostly Black town … Read MoreMichael Raphael (1952-2015)
Concert musician Calvin Edouard Ward was born on February 10, 1925, in Atlanta, Georgia, to Effie Elizabeth Crawford Ward, a graduate of Spelman Seminary for Women and Girls. His father, Jefferson Sigman Ward, a World War I Veteran, graduated from the Haynes Institute in Augusta, Georgia. … Read MoreCalvin Edouard Ward (1925-2018)
As a child, concert violinist and professor Elwyn A. Adams was a musical prodigy of some notoriety in the African American community of Cleveland, Ohio, where he was born on August 3, 1933. At age five he gave his first violin recital at East Mt. … Read MoreElwyn Albert Adams (1933-1995)
