*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*Earl Cameron was born on this date in 1917. He was a Black Afro Caribbean British actor. Earlston Jewett Cameron was born in Pembroke, Bermuda, and grew up on Princess Street, Hamilton, UK. His father was a stonemason who died in 1922, after which Cameron’s mother took on various jobs to support the family. As […]
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*Frederick Tillis was born on this date in 1930. He was a Black composer, jazz saxophonist, poet, and collegiate music educator. Born in Galveston, Texas, Frederick Charles Tillis was raised by his mother, Zelma Bernice Gardner Tillis, his stepfather, General Gardner, and his maternal grandparents, Willie Tillis and Jessie Tillis-Hubbard. His mother played piano and […]
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 […]
learn more*Opera Ebony’s founding is celebrated on this date in 1974. Opera Ebony is an African American opera company that has performed in various programs and venues. Benjamin Matthews, Sister M. Elise Sisson, SBS, and Wayne Sanders founded Opera Ebony In New York City. Opera Ebony has performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Academy […]
learn more*The Symphony of the New World’s first concert was on this date in 1965. It was the first racially integrated orchestra in the United States. They were a symphony orchestra based in New York City. They gave their debut concert at Carnegie Hall, conducted by Benjamin Steinberg, who told the orchestra: “We have a lot […]
learn more*Helen Walker-Hill was born on this date in 1936. She was a white-Canadian pianist and musicologist who specialized in honoring Black women composers’ music. Helen Siemens was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She received her early musical training from her mother, Margaret Siemens, and continued piano studies with Emma Endres Kountz in Toledo, Ohio. She […]
learn more*The birth of Anna Gardner Goodwin is celebrated on this date in 1874. She was a Black composer, mainly of religious music and marches. Anna Gardner was born in Augusta, Georgia, and is the daughter of Daniel and Anna Gardner. Dan Gardner was remembered as “the March King of Augusta,” a cornet player who led […]
learn more*This date in 1871 celebrates the birth of Estelle Ricketts, a Black composer who lived in Darby, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. She lived with her mother, her younger brother, and her father, who operated a boarding stable. She was the only one in her family who could read and write. Career Estelle Ricketts’s […]
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