Black Women Composer Resources

Boulanger Initiative has curated resources, databases, access music, advocates, books, and articles as a starting point for learning more about Black women composers.

Databases for Composers

“Black Composers and Musicians in Classical Music.” Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts

Black Excellence Music Project

Black Past

Center for Black Music Research (primarily historical collections)

D-Composed

Leon Robbin Gallery at Georgetown University Library

Library of Congress

The Mary Lou Williams Foundation

Mary Lou Williams: The Lady who Swings the Band (2015) (video)

Music by Black Composers

Music by Black Composers Living Composers Directory

Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University

Songs of America

Wind Repertory Project

Books

The Heart of a Woman: The Life and Music of Florence B. Price by Rae Linda Brown

Morning Glory: A Biography of Mary Lou Williams by Linda Dahl

Music by Black Women Composers by Helen Walker-Hill

The Music of Black Americans: A History by Eileen Southern

The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers (1994)

Race Woman: The Lives of Shirley Graham du Bois by Gerald Horne

Women in Music: A Research and Information Guide by Karin Pendle and Melinda Boyd

Women, Music, Culture: An Introduction by Julie C. Dunbar

Articles

“Operas by Black Composers Have Long Been Ignored. Explore 8.” The New York Times

“Unpacking ‘Diversity’ in Musical Theatre.” Essay by Michael R. Jackson. HowlRound.

“Women in music.” by Judith Tick, Margaret Ericson, and Ellen Koskoff. Grove Music Online. (requires subscription)

Access Music

African Diaspora Music Project

Anthology of Art Songs by Black American Composers for Voice and Piano. Arranged by Willis C. Patterson.

IMSLP

Music by Black Composers: Violin Vol. 1. Arranged by Rachel Barton Pine.

Advocates

African American Art Song Alliance 

And We Were Heard

Arts Administrators of Color

Castle of Our Skins

ColourFULL Music

Composers Diversity Collective

Decolonizing the Music Room

Exposure TV

Music by Black Composers

Updated 8/3/2022

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