JAVS Fall 2020

Other awards included the Pierre Monteux Conducting Prize in 1969, and the ASCAP Award for Adventuresome Programming in 1976. He was, additionally, a faculty member at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. DeCoteau commented on what being a “Black conductor” meant to him: Well, I feel very strongly that it is all a matter of semantics. I am a conductor who happens to be black, so in a sense I am a black conductor. The problem with that, of course, is that one runs into the risk of setting up a category—a category of musicians who are apart from any other musician. So you have good conductors, bad conductors, and black conductors. No one refers to Ozawa as a Japanese conductor. He is a conductor. 12 By no means does this article intend to present an all encompassing profile of African-American violists, or suggest that the number of talented African-American violists from the past is limited to the four profiled here. Clarke and Brown were included in part because of their listing as the only two active in the New York metropolitan area in 1960. No female African-American violists were profiled here because almost no information whatsoever was available on them. However, all-Black orchestras, such as the Philadelphia Concert Orchestra or the National AfroAmerican Philharmonic Orchestra, have operated in the United States for centuries but are not well-researched. The Negro Philharmonic Society of New Orleans, for example, was founded in the 1830s and operated until racial hostility prior to the Civil War forced it to disband. The Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, an organization of Black postal employees who played classical music, also operated in the 19 th century. Who were the principal violists of these orchestras? Did African-American viola soloists ever perform with them? Programs or other historical records are difficult to obtain on this topic. Clearly, the history of African-American violists is a subject ripe for research, particularly at a time of burgeoning interest in the history of Black participation in the arts. Topics for Further Exploration

Cleveland Institute of Music and the Ph.D. program Historical Musicology at Case Western Reserve University, concurrently. In spring 2020, he was granted the Irene H. Chayes “New Voices” award by the American Society for Aesthetics for his work on the aesthetics of African-American classical music.

Bibliography

Banfield, William. Musical Landscapes in Color: Conversations with Black American Composers. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2003. “Black Musicians Lists, 26 Jun 1958–23 Oct 1969.” Folder 011-03-36, Executive Records, New York Philharmonic Leon Levy Digital Archives. Page 9. https://archives.nyphil.org/index.php/ artifact/8a4a7e81-11ab-4f1b-a9d2-710bf5006ea1-0.1 “Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932 – 2004).” Africlassical.net, https://chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/ Perkinson.html. Accessed June 10, 2020.

Doeser, James. “Racial/Ethnic and Gender Diversity in the Orchestral Field.” League of American Orchestras , 2016.

Downes, Olin. “Roland Hayes Sings,” New York Times , November 28, 1925.

Ebony Magazine. “The Maestros: Black Symphony Conductors are Making a Name for Themselves.” February 1, 1989.

Ericson, Raymond. “Symphonic Music by Negroes Given.” The New York Times , August 17 th , 1964.

Fader, Laurance. Personal interview with author. June 9, 2020.

Feenotes. “Clarke, Selwart.” Feenotes.com , https://www.feenotes.com/database/artists/clarke selwart/ Accessed June 5, 2020.

Horne, Aaron. (Ed.) Brass Music of African-American Composers . Greenwood Publishing Group: 1996.

IMDB. “Alfred Brown.” Imdb.com , https://www.imdb. com/name/nm0112984/#soundtrack Accessed June 5, 2020.

Christopher Jenkins is an Associate Dean for Academic Support and Conservatory Liaison to the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at Oberlin Conservatory. He is currently enrolled in the DMA program in viola performance at the

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