List of African-American women in classical music
This is a list of African-American women in classical music . African-American women who are notable in various fields of classical music are listed here.
Composers
Portrait of Margaret Bonds . Lettie Alston (born 1953), composerRegina Harris Baiocchi (born 1956), composer, writer and educatorMargaret Bonds (1913–1972), composer and pianistValerie Coleman , composer and flutistShirley Graham Du Bois (1896–1977), composer, author and activistHelen Eugenia Hagan (1891–1964), composer and pianistNora Holt (1884–1974), composer, singer and music criticBetty Jackson King (1928–1994), composer, singer, pianist and educatorCynthia Cozette Lee (born 1953), composer and librettistTania León (born 1943), composer and educatorLena McLin (born 1928), composer, author, pastor and educatorJessie Montgomery (born 1982), composer and chamber musicianDorothy Rudd Moore (born 1940), composer and educatorUndine Smith Moore (1904–1989), composer, pianist and educatorJoyce Solomon Moorman (born 1946), composer and educatorNkeiru Okoye (born 1972), composerJulia Perry (1924–1979), composer and educatorZenobia Powell Perry (1908–2004), composer, activist and educatorEvelyn La Rue Pittman (1910–1992), composerRosephanye Powell (born 1962), composer, singer and academicFlorence Price (1887–1953), composer, pianist and educatorIrene Britton Smith (1907–1999), composer and educator
Conductors
Educators
Instrumentalists
Opera singers
Harolyn Blackwell performs in the East Room of the White HouseAdele Addison (born 1925), operatic soprano also performing in recitals and concertsRoberta Alexander (born 1949), international operatic sopranoBetty Allen (1927–2009), mezzo-soprano who performed in concerts and operas from the 1950s and later served as an educatorMarian Anderson (1897–1993), singer of classical music and spirituals, including operaMartina Arroyo (born 1936), major international operatic sopranoKathleen Battle (born 1948), operatic soprano and concert performerHarolyn Blackwell (born 1955), lyric coloratura soprano who has performed in many of the world's leading opera housesAngel Blue (1984), operatic soprano and classical crossover artistAngela Brown (born 1963), operatic soprano admired for performances of Verdi heroinesDébria Brown (1936–2001), operatic mezzo-soprano and educatorJanai Brugger (born 1983), operatic soprano performing in leading roles in several opera companiesHazel Joan Bryant (1939–1983), actress, opera singer, director and playwrightGrace Bumbry (born 1937), leading mezzo-soprano of her generationBarbara Hendricks at the Festiwalu Dialogu Czterech Kultur, Łódź, Poland.Karla Burns (1954–2021), operatic mezzo-soprano and actressAlyson Cambridge (fl. 2000s), operatic soprano, classical and jazz concert singer and actressCynthia Clarey (born 1949), operatic soprano and mezzo-soprano and classical concert performerBarbara Smith Conrad (1937–2017), operatic mezzo-soprano and educatorMichèle Crider (born 1959), international lirico spinto soprano appearing in leading opera housesClamma Dale (born 1948), international operatic soprano and concert performer acclaimed for her portrayal of BessBillie Lynn Daniel (fl. 1960s), operatic soprano best known for performing Clara in Porgy and Bess Ellabelle Davis (1907–1960), operatic soprano remembered for performing Aida in the 1940sGloria Davy (1931–2012), operatic soprano and concert singer who settled in SwitzerlandMary Cardwell Dawson (1894–1962), musician, educator and founding director of the National Negro Opera CompanyMattiwilda Dobbs (1925–2015), coloratura soprano, early international African-American performerRuby Elzy (1908–1943), pioneering short-lived African-American operatic sopranoLillian Evanti (1890–1967), classical concert performer and opera singer who gained fame in FranceMaria Ewing (born 1950), operatic soprano and mezzo-soprano, classical and jazz concert performerCassandra Extavour (fl. 2000s), Canadian geneticist and classical soprano singerWilhelmenia Fernandez aka Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez, soprano, actress. (1949 – 2024)Zelma Watson George (1903–1994), philanthropist, musician and opera singerGail Varina Gilmore (born 1950), gospel and mezzo-soprano opera singer, known for performing Kundry in Wagner's Parsifal Denyce Graves (born 1964), operatic mezzo-soprano known for performing the title roles in Carmen and Samson and Delilah Elizabeth Greenfield (c. 1820–1876), best known African-American concert singer of her times, also conductor and educatorReri Grist (born 1932), major international coloratura soprano and concert performerCynthia Haymon (born 1958), soprano who has performed in opera and modern classical worksBarbara Hendricks (born 1948), operatic soprano and concert singer who has settled in SwitzerlandCaterina Jarboro (1898–1986), pioneering African-American opera singer who performed the title role in Aida in 1933Betty Jones (1930–2019), operatic spinto soprano who performed in the 1970sIsola Jones (born 1949), mezzo-soprano opera singer and educatorSissieretta Jones (c.1869–1933), successful classical soprano who performed for American presidents and the British royal familyJonita Lattimore (fl. 1990s), soprano and educator who has performed in operatic roles and oratorio engagementsMarquita Lister (born 1961), operatic soprano known for performing Bess in Porgy and Bess as well as Aida and SalomeMarvis Martin (born 1956), operatic soprano best known for her concert performances and recitalsMyra Merritt (fl. 1980s), operatic soprano and educatorAbbie Mitchell (1884–1960), operatic soprano who performed Clara in the première of Porgy and Bess Latonia Moore (born 1979), classical soprano who has performed with leading opera companiesJessye Norman (1945–2019), celebrated dramatic soprano who performed leading roles in opera and sang in recitalsAilyn Pérez (born 1979), operatic soprano known for her interpretation of Violetta, Mimi and ThaïsJillian Patricia Pirtle (born 1983), operatic sopranoLeontyne Price (born 1927), internationally acclaimed soprano at the Metropolitan OperaFlorence Quivar (born 1944), operatic mezzo-soprano who gave over 100 performance at the Metropolitan OperaLa Julia Rhea (1898–1992), pioneering African-American operatic soprano who performed in Chicago from 1937Marie Selika Williams (1849–1937), coloratura soprano, the first African American to perform at the White HouseMurial Smith (1923–1985), singer who starred in musical theatre and opera from the 1940sFlorence Cole Talbert (1890–1961), operatic soprano, music educator and musicianShirley Verrett (1931–2010), operatic mezzo-soprano known for singing works of Verdi and Donizetti from the late 1960sFelicia Weathers (born 1937), international soprano opera and concert singerCamilla Williams (1919–2012), operatic soprano and educator who performed nationally and internationallyIvory Winston (1911–1996), coloratura soprano, "Iowa's First Lady of Song"
Pianists
Margaret Bonds (1913–1972), early composer and pianistValerie Capers (born 1935), classical and jazz pianist, and composerHelen Eugenia Hagan (1891–1964), pianist, educator and composerHazel Harrison (1883–1969), concert pianistAnne Gamble Kennedy (1920–2001), pianist, accompanist and educatorNina Gamble Kennedy (born 1960), pianist, conductor, filmmaker and writerCornelia Lampton (1896-1928), pianist and educatorMargaret Patrick (1913–1994), member of the Ebony and Ivory duoPhilippa Schuyler (1931–1967), child prodigy, concert pianist and journalist
See also
