Born in Chicago, Dec 22, 1907
Died in Chicago, Feb 15, 1999
- Irene Britton Smith was a composer and educator of African-American, Crow, and Cherokee descent. Showing musical talent from an early age, Britton studied piano and violin. While she hoped to study music at university, due to financial constraints, Smith pursued a degree in education.
- In 1930, Smith began working in the Chicago Public Schools as an elementary school teacher. She would remain a public school teacher for over 40 years, though she never gave up pursuing music on the side.
- In 1943, Smith earned a BM degree from American Conservatory of Music. In 1946, Smith took a sabbatical from teaching to study composition at the Juilliard School with Vittorio Giannini. She completed a MM degree in composition at DePaul University a decade later. Smith even spent a summer in France studying with legendary teacher Nadia Boulanger.
- As a composer, Smith wrote 36 works, over half for voice. She admired French neo-classical style, while her favorite composers were Tchaikovsky and Brahms.1
Sources
- Sophia Janevic, “Irene Britton Smith,” Song of America (2021), accessed April 15, 2024, https://songofamerica.net/composer/smith-2/.