Meet the Women of Chicago's Black Renaissance

Florence Price

"Florence Price (born April 9, 1887, Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.—died June 3, 1953, Chicago, Illinois) was an American composer and pianist whose work spans three decades, during which she wrote more than 300 musical compositions. In 1933, she became the first African American woman to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra.

Smith graduated from high school at the age of 14 as the valedictorian of her class. In 1903 she enrolled at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where she majored in organ performance and piano teaching. During this time she also studied, privately, under composer George Whitefield Chadwick and started to experiment with incorporating the sounds of African American folk music into her developing musical oeuvre.

In 1932 the Rodman Wanamaker Foundation sponsored composing competitions in Chicago, and Price won awards for her Symphony No. 1 in E Minor and Piano Sonata in E Minor. Symphony No. 1 in E Minor was performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on June 15, 1933, making Price the first African American woman composer to have a symphony premiered by a major American orchestra. The Chicago Daily News praised the composition as 'a faultless work…a work that speaks its own message with restraint and yet with passion. Miss Price’s symphony is worthy of a place in the regular symphonic repertory.'" —Roland Martin, Britannica

Irene Britton Smith

"Born in Chicago, Irene Britton Smith was the youngest of four siblings, and of African-American, Crow, and Cherokee descent.

Smith began work in the Chicago Public Schools as an elementary school teacher in 1930. Despite having to forego a collegiate music education, she studied music in her free time. From 1930–31, she played violin in the all-Black Harrison Farrell Orchestra. The following year, she became a part-time student at the American Conservatory of Music where she studied music theory with Stella Roberts and composition with Leo Sowerby, ultimately earning a Bachelor of Music degree in 1943. From 1946–47, Smith took a sabbatical from teaching to study composition at the Juilliard School of Music with Vittorio Giannini. She continued her composition studies during the following summers at the Eastman School of Music and the Tanglewood Music Festival, and in 1956 she completed a Master of Music degree in composition at DePaul University. Two years later, Smith traveled to the Fontainebleau Summer School in France, where she studied with famed composer Nadia Boulanger. 

Many of Smith’s compositions are written in a style similar to French neo-classical music, reflecting her admiration of French composers César Franck and Gabriel Fauré. Her work also drew inspiration from her two favorite composers: Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Johannes Brahms. 

In addition to her classical training, Smith drew musical inspiration from her sonic surroundings. Her sister-in-law Jeanne Smith Ellis commented, 'You always had the idea she was listening to the sound of your voice, the sounds that came out of your mouth.' Smith also was deeply influenced by her spatial surroundings in her hometown: 'She liked the sound of Chicago. Chicago has sort of a musical sound.' —Sophia Janevic, Song of America

Margaret Bonds

"Margaret Bonds (1913-1972) was a composer with a mission. The only child of Estella C. Bonds (a professional musician) and Dr. Monroe Alphus Majors (a physician, writer and political activist), she was raised in an environment that encouraged her interest in music of all sorts and instilled in her a deep commitment to her community. 'I realized, very young, that I was the link … between Negro composers of the past,' Bonds explained in 1971.

Margaret Bonds was a music prodigy, and by age 13 she had begun to compose. At age 16 she enrolled at Northwestern University, where she won awards in piano and composition. In 1933, at age 20, she became the first African American to perform as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Bonds earned both her B.M. (1933) and M.M. (1934) at Northwestern University. After graduation, she remained in Chicago and earned a living pursuing a variety of musical activities, which included: composing, performing and teaching private lessons. Two of her most famous students from this era were Gerald Cook and Ned Rorem, both of whom stayed in touch with her throughout their careers.

In addition to her activities in the realm of classical music, Bonds ventured into popular music. While in Chicago, she regularly played piano at the Palmer House Hotel and tried her hand at songwriting." —Anna Celenza, "Margaret Bonds: Composer and Activist" Exhibit at Georgetown University

Betty Jackson King

"Betty King has a rich and varied background in music. She received the B.M. on piano and the M.M. in composition from Roosevelt University, Chicago, Illinois, with further study at Oakland University, Glassboro College, and others. Her piano teachers include her mother, Gertrude Jackson Taylor, Saul Dorfman, and Maurice Dumesnil; organ: Joseph Lockett and Abba Leifer; Composition: Karel B. Jarik; and voice: Thelma Waide Brown. She taught at the University of Chicago Laboratory School, Roosevelt University, Dillard University (New Orleans, LA), and Wildwood High School (Wildwood, NJ).

King pursued careers in composing and teaching and served as a choral conductor-clinician and lecturer in churches and universities. Her honors include a scholarship from the Chicago Umbrian Glee Club, awards from the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc., "Outstanding Leaders in Elementary and Secondary Education," and "The International Black Writers Conference." King was past president of NANM, Inc. Her compositions are Saul of Tarus, My Servant Job, Biblical operas; Simon of Cyrene, Easter cantata; Requiem; The Kids in School With Me, ballet with orchestration; Life cycle for violin and piano; Vocalise for soprano, cello and piano; sacred, secular novelty, choral compositions; and spiritual arrangements."

Source: Perkins Holly, Ellistine. Biographies of Black Composers and Songwriters; A Supplementary Textbook. Iowa:Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1990.

Nora Holt

"'A pioneer of the Black classical music scene in Chicago, Holt also became an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance and the Jazz Age in Paris. Born into the middle-class, she moved back and forth between worlds: concert artist and blues singer, newspaper columnist and club hostess, erudite scholar and scandalous socialite.

In 1918, Holt, a pianist, became the first Black person in the United States, female or male, to earn a master’s degree in music, from Chicago Musical College. She also worked in the male-dominated fields of music criticism, scholarship and composition. Her music journalism, public lectures, recitals and community organizing became a blueprint for other Black women seeking to become leaders in Chicago’s classical musical scene.

In 1917, Holt became the first music critic for The Chicago Defender, a pioneering Black newspaper. She filled her columns with stories of Black classical musicians, chronicling the brilliance of women like Hazel Harrison (the first Black instrumentalist to play with the Berlin Philharmonic) and the Philadelphia contralto Marian Anderson, whose singing so captivated Holt that she established a scholarship for Anderson’s studies.

Holt enrolled in the master’s program at the Chicago Musical College, where she earned a degree in piano performance, music theory and composition. She astutely used her Chicago Defender connections to make sure her accomplishments were publicized. Her master’s portfolio, submitted in 1918, included a monumental 42-page work for a 100-piece orchestra titled “Rhapsody on Negro Themes.” —Samantha Ege, The New York Times