The concert halls and classrooms alike give the undeniable impression that while Blacks are vitally important and great in repertoires outside the concert halls (such as blues, jazz, and spirituals), the concert halls themselves are, and have always been, the domains of Whites—most of them men, most of them European. This impression is only corroborated by the music-publishing industry, which offers precious little to challenge the notion that few Black composers have written concert music, and that what concert music they have produced has centered on repertoires that exist mainly outside of the concert hall.
But that impression is false.
Dr. Michael Cooper shared a partial history of classical music by composers of African descent. Click here to read the PDF file.
