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Does Anyone Know of Any Famous Black Violinists?

From teresa rhodes
Posted March 5, 2004 at 06:48 AM

http://www.npr.org/display_pages/features/feature_1257690.html

Carl.

There are a few today as well, but what do you mean by black?
Black like Nelson Mandela or black as Buri's conscience?

Bridgetower (A mulatt, Polish mother African Father) visited Vienna during a very succesfull concert journey in 1803, Beethoven was impressed and wanted to play his, not at all finished sonata with him before he moved on on his tours.

So Bridgtower and Beethoven (improvisin mostly) premiered the sonata in 1803.

Beethoven wanted the sonata to be played more, but Bridgetower did not want to take on a new sonata that wasn't even completed on his tour, so Beethoven completed the work the following year an dedicated it tho the (then) most famous violinist in Europe, Kreutzer, whom Beethoven knew since they met in 1798.

There have been some great black jazz and swing fiddlers over the years. They include:

Stuff Smith
Eddie South
Claude Williams (I think he's still playing)
Ray Nance (played with Duke Ellington)
Joe Kennedy

Check out http://music.calarts.edu/~chung/swing.html for more details.

Best regards, Marty

1. This link showcases Clarence Cameron White, an African American violinist and composer.
2. Africlassical.com gives you a comprehensive history of black people in classical music.

And Teresa, you must realize that your search for black violinists will turn up some, but not many names--particularly because blacks have borne 500+ years of racist tendencies on an international level, slavery, etc. Although stringed instruments were founded in Africa, classical music grew out of a long push towards high European art music, away from folk, religious, etc. To this day, many people want to keep it this way, a high European art form, but thanks to people like Rachel Barton who have been bold enough to perform works by early black violinist-composers, we may now see that black people were not absent in the evolution of pre-20th century classical music.

The Sphinx String competition www.sphinxmusic.org , today, serves as a way to get across to the overarching "establishment" that believes classical music is a high art for white people, that there are black (and latino) students who are just as great and who can understand and appreciate this music as any other human being can. In addition, the competition is finally pushing into national recognition, talented black and latino students from all over and giving validity to the breadth of outstanding black composers, from George Walker to Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. (You may also note that Oberlin has been a bastion of black classical music talent for over 100 years!)

You pose a topic that obviously requires much more scholarly research. Yet, as evinced by the Berlin Phil, Vienna Phil, and even Chicago Phil, it is a struggle in progress for blacks to make inroads into the industry--from an audience, musical and commercial viewpoint.

Maybe she has a website?

I heard Beethoven and Bridgetower quarreled over a woman, and Bridgetower left in a huff, leaving Beethoven to remove the dedication to Bridgetower and transferring it to Kreutzer. I don't know who got the girl in the end...

Carl.

JG

Here is a quote on Joseph Boulogne from the Director of Tafelmusik, Jeanne Lamon: "He was not a simple man. He was a complex man. And it shows in his music. His concertos--all his concertos--are more demanding than anything Mozart wrote in the time."

Tai Murray
Tai Murray has performed extensively as a soloist with orchestras and in recitals across the United States and Europe since making her debut with the Chicago Symphony at the age of nine. Born in Chicago, she has been seen on such concert stages as Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl, Salt Lake City's Abravanel Hall, and Chicago's Mandel Hall. Concerto performances include appearances with the symphonies of Baltimore, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Utah, and Washington, DC. Ms. Murray was the only solo artist invited by the Chicago Symphony to perform a recital in the Rotunda of Chicago's Symphony Center during its Inaugural Festival. An accomplished chamber musician, she has collaborated with Rostislav Dubinsky, Luba Edlina and Menahem Pressler. A participant in the 2002 Marlboro Music Festival, Ms. Murray performed with such artists as Lydia Artymiw, Philip Naegele, David Soyer, and Marcy Rosen. Among the honors and awards, Ms. Murray has received top prizes in The Juilliard School and Indiana University Concerto competitions and the Inaugural Sphinx Competition. She was awarded a Certificate of Honor for outstanding musicianship by the Academia Chigiana in Siena, Italy and a semi-finalist in the 2002 Indianapolis Violin Competition. Ms. Murray has performed in master classes given by Josef Gingold, Lorand Fenyves, Joseph Fenyves, Joseph Silverman, and Isaac Stern. She also studied with Yuval Yaron, Franco Gulli, and Samuel Ashkenasi. Ms. Murray holds an Artist Diploma in music performance from Indiana University. She is currently studying with a full scholarship at The Juilliard School under Juilliard String Quartet's first violinist Joel Smirnoff.

No one mentioned Karen Briggs of vertu

vertumusic.com

Mr. Blake is a guest at my university this semester and he is incredible by all accounts both as a jazz violinist, and a person. I've been to one of his lectures so far and there are 3 more to go before the semester is out.

He is classically trained and has orchestral experience in addition to being one of the world's best jazz violinists.

Chauncey Patterson of the Miami string 4tet
Marcus Thompson of the Boston CHamber Music Players (among others)
Amandi Hummings of the Innuendo 5tet

Plus Owen Young a black cellist with the Innunedo 5tet & the Boston symphony

I've always wondered whether Astrid Schween, the cellist of the Lark 4tet, had some Carribean in her background

this site may have some useful links for you:

http://chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/History.html

As Tristan said, with enough hard work and talent, there's no reason why anyone of ANY background shouldn't become a success as a violinist. After all, what odds would you give a person from this background:
1) poor family
2) musically unconnected
3) musically ignorant, except in the father's natural ability to strum folk songs on the mandolin
4) born and grown up in a highly non-musical town
5) access to second or third rate teachers until in his teens
6) no access to recordings or radio/TV broadcasts from which to learn independently of those teachers
7) no money for going to concerts, to learn from great violinists' examples (and not many concerts in his hometown in any case)

I'd give someone like that pretty long odds of becoming the person he became: Nicolo Paganini.

Wonderful violinist with whom I worked with on Broadway.
After many years spent in the orchestra, he left (NY Phil) and decided to go into the commercial side of things including session work and Broadway shows.

See: http://www.classicallounge.com/samuelthompson/ or http://www.violinist.com/directory/bio.cfm?member=nobilemente

Neil

It would be interesting to research the degree to which black musicians aspired to the classical world, contrasted to the number of those who had an impact and were considered 'the greats'. Given the odds of being a Menhuin, Perlman, ..., the same questions might be applied to women as well. James Weldon Johnson's 'moving' narrative, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man" has as it's main character a classical pianist for instance.

As a black violinist, it would be extra meaningful to define one's own opportunity rather than to look at the obvious areas for inspiration, or as in the move Braveheart, "Follow your heart...". Marian Anderson and Jessye Norman comes to mind.

Just within these responses, many examples of excellence were communicated, though not particularly violinists exclusively. The symbols and images, rhythms and richness, of black's contributions to the world of music is more than justification to simply "Follow your heart...".

Though of course if you are a good researcher too, it should be clear that there is a need to comb history for the things shared here for a more scholarly approach to your question. Greatness is sometimes indicated by the toughness of the question.

I personally haven't researched blacks in the classical world as a subject, but even that may have already been done. I did find an interesting site that may help: http://chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/History.html

Nokuthula Ngwenyama (b. 1976) (The violist Buri referred to):
http://chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/Ngwenyama.html

Marcus Thomson (viola)
http://mit.edu/mta/www/music/resources/mthompson.html

I mention her because she was the concertmaster of the Greater Buffalo Youth Orchestra a number of years ago when I was a sophomore second violinist in that same group. She won the concerto competition that year, played the Vieuxtemps concerto, and went on to the Eastman school of music. I didn't know her well in the orchestra--she went to a different high school--but she was an inspiration to the others in the orchestra and the audience. As far as I can remember, she may have been the only African-American in the group, and she was leading it.

To make a complex question relatively short, it shouldn't matter if one is black or female if selection for jobs/housing/etc were race/gender "blind." (i.e. if selection was truly only based on qualifications)

However, it has been demonstrated by a lot of experts and nonexperts that it isn't. (based solely on qualifications)

Louis Farrakhan, the controversial leader of the Nation of Islam started out in life as a serious violin student, if not a child prodigy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Farrakhan

I find it interesting, though, that while some people lament the comparative lack of prominent black women and men in classical music, other people in classical music seek to embrace styles that were traditionally reserved for black musicians -- jazz, spirituals, etc. It may take awhile, but eventually, cultures blend and in at least one more area, what you look like and where you come from becomes less important than who you are and what you do.

Speaking of curiousity, I think I'll go look up that Farrakhan article now. :)

Re the original question, I don't know if there have been famous black classical violinists in our time, but I have personally known any number of first rate black classical musicians, including a number of excellent violinists.

Re fame, however, the Chevalier de Saint George, referred to by someone else, was indeed famous - at least as much as a swordsman as he was as a violinist! There is a book about him by Alain Guede. I myself have written cadenzas to one of his concertos.

The deal with Bridgetower is that he insulted the morals of a woman who turned out to be Beethoven's friend; the composer tore up the dedication and dedicated No. 9 to Kreutzer instead. If it weren't for that, we'd be making everyday references to the "Bridgetower Sonata" for the rest of eternity...

... which goes to show, what you say really can come back to bite you. Even when you've died.

As for no blacks in rock and roll, I have to laugh. Blacks created rock and roll. If not for blacks we'd be dancing minuets. Hendrix is tied with the Beatles for best rock and roll ever. Prince is maybe the best rock songwriter of his generation. Heavy metal is white music, like R&B is black so there are no blacks in it. It isn't because they're excluded though. Also, it comes directly from black music.

I want you to watch this movie. It's free and an hour long. You can watch it even on dialup.
link

Incidently, the man playing at 3:00 minutes is R. L. Burnside, who I was able to see in Bloomington when he was over 70 years old. He sounded exactly the same. I've never seen any crowd so moved or so dancing. The best rock and roll ever and the crowd was close to half and half white/black.

Overlapping topic / slightly off-topic: Jeri Lynne Johnson is an up-and-coming black woman conductor-- I really enjoyed and appreciated her work in one casual orchesta reading session led by her. Wingspan, indeed. Fabulous hands. Many links out there, but I stumbled into this one

Winner of the Sphinx competition. He is a wonderful player, studying with Paul Coletti in LA.
He is also a member of the Harlem String Quartet

Harlem String Quartet

Check that out.

As much as people want to say that the world isn't racist anymore, things are the way they are from decades and centuries of stereotypes and racial biases that were once part of a "social norm." People who weren't white for a long time were banned from playing in professional orchestras (and women too)...so a great deal did find other ways of expressing themselves musically, and of course African Americans have a strong role in the jazz tradition.
There just aren't as many black musicians playing classical violin and opera and such. I know a girl (black/caribbean) who got into the opera program at my school and it was a big deal for her, and she had support and people bashing her from both sides.
The sphinx organization is to help recognize talent from black and latino orchestral string instrumentalists.

Good luck in your search, and don't be afraid to be someone's role model one day! :)

A family member is a friend of the late Etta Baker, famous blues guitarist from the mountains of North Carolina. I should have just gone on instinct on the one, because I already knew.

there have been some great names mentioned above. most of them haven't been of famous black violinists, but simply of black violinists. some of them (such as louis farrakhan) aren't even famous for their playing. louis farrakhan was actually more well known as a calypso singer than as a violinist in his youth, but i digress.

the fact is that no black violinists have been able to maintain fame beyond their careers and none have been posthumously celebrated. maybe that will change one day but as of now the statement i've just made stands.

there have been violinists who were famous in their time. i'll mention most of them here. some may have been mentioned above. i'm sure you've never heard of many of the players i'm about to mention, for reasons i stated above.

ok, here goes.

joseph antonia emidy (1775 - 1835), a contemporary of beethoven who in his youth played for haydn. he was most well known for introducing the most modern works of his day to his musical societies in cornwall, england.

joseph boulogne (le chevalier de saint-georges) (1745 - 1799) was known as the 'black mozart' and 'god of arms' for his supreme fencing ability. he was also one of the first composers in france to write string quartets and concertante styled concerti.

george bridgetower has been covered in the threads above.

joseph white (1836 - 1918) was considered to be the 'black paganini' and was a contemporary of ernst. his violin concerto in f# minor is occasionally performed to this day and it bears resemblance to ernst's own concerto and the wieniawski 1.

jacques constantin deburque (1800 - 1861) was musical director at the negro philharmonic society of new orleans, an all-black orchestra at a time when america had no other world class orchestras. it wasn't until louis moreau gottschalk's bamboula became a hit in europe (and the resulting wieniawski/rubenstein american tour) that americans were even considered to be musically inclined!

probably the most famous black violinist of all time is fredrick douglass (1817 - 1895), the black abolitionist. his grandson joseph douglass (1871 - 1935) was also an accomplished violinist.

john thomas douglas (1847 - 1886) was a well-known player in new york city in his day and taught david mannes, who established the mannes college of music 'for colored people' in upstate new york in douglas' honour after he passed away.

will marion cook (1869 - 1944) studied with joseph joachim in leipzig and composition with antonin dvorak at the national conservatory. cook inspired dvorak to write the 'american' string quartet (which originally was titled 'the negro string quartet,' but as we all know, that title was changed). he was too sensitive to deal with racism and he faded away into obscurity later in his career.

bandleader james reese europe (1880 - 1919) was very well known in his time.

hezekiah le roy gordon 'stuff' smith (1909 - 1967) is a legendary violinist, as is his contemporary eddie south (1904 - 1962).

free jazz violinist leroy jenkins may be the most well-known violinist in the black community.

the quartette indigo was founded by 1st violinist gayle dixon. it has a rotating roster and has had some incredible players over the decades.

of course i can't forget about regina carter, who has also spent time in the quartette indigo. ms. carter has had as many accolades as any black violinist has ever received in their lifetime.

the uptown string quartet is pretty well-known in new york city circles. their violist is maxine roach, daughter of jazz drummer max roach.

I'm not surprised. So am i.

>However, other than the very few out there like Lenny Kravitz, I can't think of even one other black person in really any of the rock genres.<

There are a bunch of black rockers.

Slash (guitarist, Guns 'n Roses, Velvet Revolver)
Tony MacAlpine (shrapnel artist, currently in Steve Vai's band)
Uffe Cederlund (guitarist, Entombed/Nihilist)
Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine)
Bob Marley (guitarist, The Wailers)
Pat Smear (guitarist, The Germs, Nirvana, The Foo Fighters)
Richard Julian (guitarist, Richard Hell & The Voidoids)
Arthur Lee (singer/guitarist, Love)
Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, Juan Atkins (techno/industrial pioneers)
Kim Thayil (ex- guitarist, Soundgarden, No WTO)
Chaka Malik (singer, Orange 9mm)
Mick Thompson (the Gories, the Dirtbombs)
DH Peligro (drummer, the Dead Kennedys)
Lajon Witherspoon (Sevendust)
Tunde Adebimpe, Kyp Malone, Jaleel Bunton (multi-instrumentalists, TV On The Radio)
Ben Kenney (bassist, The Roots, Incubus)
Skin (singer, Skunk Anansie)
Longineu Parsons (drummer, Yellowcard)
Derrick Green (singer, Sepultura)
Dwayne 'Blackbird' McKnight (ex-guitarist of Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Danko Jones (guitarist, Danko Jones)
Lisa Kekaula (singer, the Bell-Rays)
Maxim (The Prodigy)
Cee-Lo Green (singer, Gnarls Barkley)
...to name a FEW.

and these all-black bands:
Public Enemy
Living Colour
God Forbid
Body Count
Fishbone
the Bad Brains
...are pretty well-known in rock circles. Lenny Kravitz is just the tip of the iceberg. There's way more out there than Chuck, Bo, Hendrix, Prince, and Kravitz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DitGkUsu9O0

Nuttin But Stringz
http://www.nuttinbutstringz.com/

Daniel Bernard Roumain
http://www.dbrmusic.com/dbr.htm
(an old youth symphony friend of mine who is conducting the Vermont Youth Symphony now brought in DBR to collaborate with the symphony not long ago and gives very good report!)

Black Violin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xau2My4Y8wY
http://www.blackviolin.net/index.html

And then,
Is Miri Ben-Ari Black?
(kidding-- sort of) (no-- and yes) (arguable?)
She does have now the first instrumental to hit the R&B and Hip-Hop charts since Herbie Hancock's "Head Hunters"-- she hit number three, and stayed in the top ten for at least ten weeks straight! (These factoids taken from the AFM journal "International Musician" cover article on Ms. Ben-Ari late last year-- sorry to lose exact month!-- and from her website)

http://www.miriben-ari.com/

:-) Enjoy!

BTW, RIP to Leroy Jenkins who died recently.