Black composers

Backed by the renowned NY Philharmonic at Lincoln Center, famed composer Terence Blanchard covered his scores from classic Spike Lee joints.

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, finally gets his time to shine.

The late Harry T. Burleigh was the first African-American composer to gain wide critical acclaim in the United States. Henry Thacker Burleigh was born and raised in the town of Erie, Pennsylvania  on December 2, 1866. He was taught the art of singing by his grandfather, a former slave, along with his brother.  After learning […]

  William Grant Still was a pioneering composer and songwriter who achieved several firsts, including becoming the first African-American composer to conduct a major American symphony orchestra. Still achieved that feat on this day (July 23) in 1936. Still was born on May 11, 1895 in Woodville, Miss., and raised primarily in Little Rock, Ark. […]