Learning Objectives
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to do the following:
- Identify the lives of notable Black classical composers, conductors, and musical performers.
- Demonstrate the concept of the linkage between the music of the "old guard"-musicians of yesteryear-and their impact on the contemporary Black classical musicians and compositions.
- Describe the importance of Slave Songs of the United States and Music and Some Highly Musical People to the development of the survey of American music history.
- List a few important African American classical singers who were strategic to the early development of establishing the bar for singers of the twentieth century.
- Identify classical singers who were influential upon concert life in Black America during the first half of the twentieth century.
Introduction to Lesson 11
A conversation on the subject of Black and brown composers, musicians, and conductors in classical music doesn't usually spark a lively exchange about the latest concerts, published books, or recorded works. More often than not, the reaction is silence or a brief reply, which is not to say that conductors and artists around the world are not performing orchestral commissions and compositions. If the topic of Black and brown musicians comes up, some people will probably think of Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, or maybe James Brown or Public Enemy. But few will think of Francis (Frank) Johnson or William Grant Still or a host of other Black American classical composers. However, several semesters would not be enough to cover the wealth of material produced by classical musicians of the African diaspora. So, what happened to these African American composers, musicians, and conductors 
SIDE NOTEDean Dixon (1915-1976) [was] one of the first African Americans to prepare himself as a symphony conductor, obtained his musical education at Juilliard (BS) and Columbia University Teachers College (M.A.). He began to conduct orchestras during his college years and in 1948 made his debut with the New York Philharmonic. Unable to find a permanent position, he settled in Europe (1949-70), where he served as musical director with the Goteborg Symphony in Sweden, the Hesse Radio Symphony in Frankfurt, Germany, and the Sydney Symphony in Australia. In 1970 he returned to the United States and filled guest-conductor slots with various orchestras until 1974, when he retired because of ill health"- Southern 1997, 527. who contributed to the classical music traditions of America?
As Jamal J Rossi, Dean of the Eastman School of Music, states,
Classical music has not traditionally reflected the population of our county as a whole.
This 2018 overview video about the Gateways Music Festival clip goes to the core of the situation when it states, "Open your ears to hear and understand something that perhaps you don't understand, which is that excellence comes in all people." Indeed,
Gateways Music Festival: Inspiring through the Power of Performance
People of African heritage have made enduring contributions to classical music throughout history. There have been countless accomplished Black classical conductors, composers, and performers (both instrumentalists and singers) who have enriched classical music as long as it has existed.