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African Americans -- Music -- History and criticism
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Many thanks to Rebecca Belford for her help with the above information!
Useful Subject Headings
- African American choirs
- African American choral conductors
- African American conductors (Music)
- African American male singers
- African American musicians
- African American singers
- African American sound recording executives and producers
- African American vocal coaches
- African American women composers
- African American women singers
Many thanks to Rebecca Belford for her help with the above information!
Vocal Music
- Kassia Database: The Women's Art Song DatabaseThe Kassia Database is a resource geared toward aiding singers, instructors of voice, pianists, researchers, and music lovers to discover and celebrate art song by women composers. The database includes songs from the Baroque period through the 21st century, and have been categorized by level, voice type, language, composer, and composer dates
An Index to African-American Spirituals for the Solo Voice by
The spirituals are neatly organized in four indexes: a title index, first line index, alternate title index and a topical index that includes twenty major categories. A bibliography of indexed sources serves as a guide for further research.
Call Number: Con Ref ML128.S4 A27 1999ISBN: 0313305773Publication Date: 1999
Spirituals: a multidisciplinary bibliography for research and performance by
This annotated bibliography documents articles, books, and dissertations published since 1920. Of those, 150 are books; 80 are chapters within books; 615 are journal articles, and 150 are dissertations, along with a selection of highly significant items published before 1920. The most recent publications included date from early 2014. Disciplines researched include music, literature and poetry, American history, religion, and African American Studies.
Call Number: Con Ref ML128.S4 A272 2015ISBN: 0895797992Publication Date: 2015-01-01
Diversify your Repertoire
- African American Composer Initiative (AACI)African American Composer Initiative (AACI) has developed a repertoire resource for performing musicians. Sections include works for pianists, for singers, and for chamber players.
- ...And We Were HeardThis site gives underrepresented composers a platform to have their music heard. Composers that submit works to … And We Were Heard are matched with top-notch
wind bands and engage in collaborative recording sessions. The resulting audio tracks are hosted on our site along with innovative ideas of how to support diverse voices in music. - Alliance for Women Film ComposersA community of composers and colleagues who strive to support and celebrate the work of women composers through advocacy and education.
- Chamber Music America: The Composers Equity ProjectThe Composers Equity Project
A Database of African/Black, Latinx, Asian/South Asian, Arab/Middle Eastern, and Native American, Women, and Gender Non-Conforming Composers. - Composer Diversity Project: Works Diversity DatabaseThe Institute for Composer Diversity is committed to the celebration, education, and advocacy of music created by composers from historically underrepresented genders, racial, ethnic, and cultural heritages, and sexual orientations as well as disabled composers.
- DONNE: Women in MusicLearn stories of so many neglected women composers. Contains live interviews with women composers making their mark in the music world.
- Institute for Composer DiversityThe Institute for Composer Diversity works to encourage the discovery, study, and performance of music written by composers from underrepresented groups.
- The Kapralova Society: Women in MusicAn affiliate member of the International Alliance for Women in Music, the Society's mission is to promote interest in Kapralova and other women in music through scholarly research, education, and special projects, often in partnership with schools of music, public broadcasters, publishing houses, and other organizations.
- Kassia Database: The Women's Art Song DatabaseThe Kassia Database is a resource geared toward aiding singers, instructors of voice, pianists, researchers, and music lovers to discover and celebrate art song by women composers. The database includes songs from the Baroque period through the 21st century, and have been categorized by level, voice type, language, composer, and composer dates
- Many Many Women: An Index of Over 1000 Composers, Improvisers, and Sonic ArtistsFocuses on women making various kinds of experimental/avant garde music. Some of these artists may also work within more mainstream forms, but they are included here because of their other work that is more challenging.
- Mexican Composers, LivingThis list features contemporary self-published Mexican composers, who were either born in Mexico or had the large part of their musical upbringing there. Because these are self-published composers, an email and/or personal website link is listed for each as a point of contact.
- Music by Black Composers (MBC)Dedicated to helping to bring greater diversity to the ranks of classical music performers, composers, and audiences by making the music of Black composers available to everyone. MBC’s Living Composers Directory is designed for those seeking to commission; for performers, conductors, and concert programmers seeking existing music; and for other researchers and scholars of contemporary classical music.
- No Broken LinksDiscover solo and chamber repertoire for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, saxophone, and horn. The directories focus specifically on the work of women, transgender & gender non-conforming individuals, and/or Black, Indigenous, or persons of color.
- Women’s Philharmonic AdvocacyWe celebrate the vast range of orchestral music by women, and encourage orchestras to program it! All around us people are suddenly aware of long-ingrained sexist practices, and questioning their entrenched status. We work to reveal the centuries of music by women, much of it lost to history due to gender bias – and help provide information and resources to make that music available.
Choral Guides
- Beyond Elijah Rock: The Non-Idiomatic Choral Music of Black Composers List of the non-idiomatic choral music of black composers. This refers to the original concert music that is not part of the traditional idiomatic canon associated with black musicians. That canon includes spirituals, gospel, jazz, hip-hop, and rap among others. There will be pieces that may be based on spirituals or gospel tunes but are, at their core, original songs.
A Catalog of Music Written in Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr by
This third edition contains a considerable number of revisions, updates, and new work and includes entirely new sections devoted to jazz and blues songs, sample programs of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day concerts, and a discography, along with appendixes of works listed by orchestration, subject, and a list of publishers and sources.
Call Number: Con Ref ML128.B45 C38 2012ISBN: 9780810881983Publication Date: 2011
Choral Arrangements of the African-American Spirituals by
This book traces the history and cultural roots of the genre from today through its inception. Ensembles that have perpetuated the growth of the spiritual arrangements - from Fisk Jubilee Singers of the 1870s through those currently active - are chronicled also. Arrangements indexed by title, arranger, and subject complement the accompanying biographies and repertoire information.
Call Number: Con Ref ML128.V7 T75 1998ISBN: 0313302111Publication Date: 1998
Choral Music by African-American Composers by
Lists and describes approximately 1,600 published and unpublished choral works by more than 100 African-American composers and arrangers, 600 more works than the first edition.
Call Number: Con Ref ML128.C48 W5 1996ISBN: 081083037XPublication Date: 1996
Keyboard Music
Piano Music by Black Women Composers by
The depth of detail in this comprehensive catalog of music composed by African American women required limiting the scope to solo and ensemble piano music, but an introductory overview on the contributions of black women in music and biographical sketches on the 54 composers profiled in the catalog contain broader information. Over 300 piano works are listed, with detailed descriptive information on close to 200 works that Walker-Hill was able to obtain and study. Appendixes list available published music, ensemble instrumentation, music for teaching, and music published before 1920.
Call Number: Con Ref ML128.P3 W3 1992ISBN: 0313281416Publication Date: 1992
Keyboard Music of Black Composers by
Horne presents work for the piano and related instruments (such as accordion, harpsichord, and organ). Composers from Africa as well as the Diaspora are covered in this volume. Organized in alphabetical order by composer, each of the more than 200 entries provides information, where available, on the composer's life and career, and then details all works that include piano as well as information about commission, premiere, and composer bibliography and discography.
Call Number: Con Ref ML128.B45H68 1992ISBN: 031327939XPublication Date: 1992
Webpages
- African American Art Song Alliance Founded in 1997, this is the home of interchange between performers and scholars interested in art song by African-American composers.
- Afrocentric Voices in "Classical" Music Afrocentric Voices focuses on classically trained American singers and composers of African descent and on the vocal music forms they influenced, especially opera and art songs–including Negro spirituals composed for concert performance.
- Archives of African American Music and Culture Archives of African American Music and Culture (AAAMC) is a repository of materials covering a range of African American musical idioms and cultural expressions from the post-World War II era. Our collections highlight popular, religious, and classical music, with genres ranging from blues and gospel to R&B and contemporary hip hop. The AAAMC also houses extensive materials related to the documentation of Black radio.
- Black Grooves Black Grooves is a music review site hosted by the Archives of African American Music & Culture (AAAMC) at Indiana University. Our goal is to promote black music by providing our readers with monthly updates on interesting new releases and quality reissues in all genres─including gospel, blues, jazz, funk, soul, R&B, world music, and hip-hop—as well as classical music composed or performed by black artists.
- Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem is one of the world’s leading cultural institutions devoted to the research, preservation, and exhibition of materials focused on African American, African Diaspora, and African experiences. As a research division of The New York Public Library, the Schomburg Center features diverse programming and collections spanning over 11 million items that illuminate the richness of global Black history, arts, and culture.
Organizations
- Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts CAAPA's Mission is to help "Bring Color to the Classics!" The vision is to help promote opportunities for Black classical musicians and others in the performing arts through arts performances, education, and outreach.
- National Association for the Study and Performance of African American Music The National Black Music Caucus to preserve, promote, and advance the tradition of African American Music in 1972; later the name changed to NASPAAM.
- National Association of Negro Musicians Inc. Features music composed and/or performed by African-American/Black/Colored/Negro Musicians.
Orchestra-Specific Resources
- Edwin A. Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music: Works by Composers of African DescentLarge lending library of orchestral performance material. It contains over 22,000 titles and continues to grow. It is known for its many rare and out-of-print works. It is a unique source of 19th- and 20th-century American music, and has a longstanding commitment to promoting new, noteworthy, and overlooked works.
- Expanding the American Canon: A Conductor ' s Compendium of Black American Orchestral ComposersThis document is part of the dissertation requirement for the Doctor of Musical
Arts degree in Conducting. The compendium’s formatting is modeled after the entry format in David Daniels’ Orchestral Music: A Handbook. - Orchestra Season AnalysisFor many reasons—popularity, accessibility, and resources among others—professional orchestras get a lot of attention when it comes to diversity in programming. This page contains data analysis of American orchestras in regard to programming works by composers from underrepresented groups.
Theory-Specific Resources to Expand the Canon
- Expanding the Music Theory CanonThe site contains more than 400 examples by women and/or people of color active primarily between c.1600 and 1925, arranged by theory topic. Additionally, there is a composer biography and (when possible) recording of each excerpt.
- Music Theory Examples by BIPOC composersThis repository of examples by composers of color for use in the theory and aural skills curriculum. The music is categorized by unit, topic, and subtopic. The repository is crowdsourced by music theorists.
- Music Theory Examples by WomenThis is a database of excerpts and complete musical compositions by women composers. The music is categorized by theoretical concept for use in music education.
Conductors
Black Conductors by
The first collective biography of Black American conductors of instrumental ensembles from the early 19th century to the present.
Call Number: Con Ref ML402 .H36 1995ISBN: 0810829304Publication Date: 1995
Winds & Brass Music
Brass Music of Black Composers by
The main body of the book is divided into sections devoted to African, African American, Afro-European, and Afro-Latino composers. Within each section composers are arranged alphabetically; each entry provides biographical information as well as commission, duration, instrumentation, date of publication, premiere, publisher, discography for each composition. Backmatter includes a Brass Music Index which groups the music by numbers, medium, and ensembles; a title index; discography; and bibliography.
Call Number: Con Ref ML128.W5 H62 1996ISBN: 0313298262Publication Date: 1996
Woodwind Music of Black Composers by
This book contains the most current and complete biographical data on 90 African composers, Afro-American composers, Afro-Latin composers, and Afro-European composers, including their education and professional experience and information on their continuing musical influence. A distinctive feature is the music index of both published and unpublished works for solo and chamber ensembles that groups the music by medium that contain some 430 works.
Call Number: Con Ref ML128.W5H65 1990ISBN: 0313272654Publication Date: 1990
String Music
String Music of Black Composers by
Organized in alphabetical order by composer, each entry provides information, where available, on the composer's life and career, and then details all works that include strings as well as information about commission, premiere, and composer bibliography and discography. The volume includes a string index, as well as a general discography and bibliography.
Call Number: Con Ref ML128.B45H7 1991ISBN: 0313279381Publication Date: 1991