Nationality: American

Born in Cambridge, MA, June 29, 1908
Died in Woodbury, CT, May 18, 1975

• Leroy Anderson was a conductor, arranger, and composer known for his memorable melodies and unusual instrumental scoring (ex: “The Typewriter”).
• In addition to writing hit songs such as “Sleigh Ride” and “Blue Tango,” Anderson is known for his collaboration with Arthur Fiedler, former principal conductor of the Boston Pops.⁴ While Fiedler was at the podium, Anderson became the principal arranger for the Boston Pops and premiered many works with the ensemble.
• In the 1950s, Anderson reached peak fame and recorded much of his own music. One such recording, “Blue Tango,” sold over a million copies.
  • Fun fact – in 1953, a study named Anderson the American composer most frequently performed by native orchestras.
• From Grove Music Online:

“Anderson raised the prominence of the popular orchestral miniature, and such music proved useful not only to pops concerts, but to radio, television and Muzak, making his music familiar to millions who would not necessarily recognize his name.”⁵

Learn More

Leroy Anderson Official Website
Leroy Anderson’s profile in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, where he was elected posthumously in 1988.

Born in Devil’s Promenade, OK, July 8, 1931
Died in Santa Fe, Feb 9, 2007

• Native American composer and educator of Cherokee Indian, Quapaw Indian, French, and Scottish descent.
• As a composer, Ballard’s music synthesizes 20th Century classical techniques and Native American elements and traditions.
  • Growing up, Ballard took traditional voice and piano lessons while also actively participating in the War Dance Society of the Quapaw and other Native American community events.
  • After obtaining his master’s degree in composition from University of Tulsa, Ballard studied privately with  he studied privately with composers Darius Milhaud, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Carlos Surinach, and Felix Labunski.¹¹

“An intimate knowledge of Amerindian culture enabled him to create innovative works in many genres that sensitively and respectfully recreate tribal worlds.”

Grove Music Online¹²

Learn More:

“The Legacy of Louis Ballard, father of Native American Music” from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Born in West Chester, PA, March 9, 1910
Died in New York, Jan 23, 1981

• Barber was a musical prodigy. He wrote his first opera at age 10 (his family’s cook wrote the libretto). He entered the recently-founded Curtis Institute of Music when he was 14. 
  • Barber met his partner Gian Carlo Menotti while he was a student at Curtis. 
  • Barber also taught at Curtis from 1939-1942. 
• During his lifetime, Barber was one of the United States’ most-performed composers, both at home and abroad. His many honors included:  
  • Commissions for Martha Graham, for the 25th anniversary of the League of Composers, and for the opening of Lincoln Center.  
  • He won two Pulitzer prizes; in 1958 and 1963. 
  • He inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1958, and won the Gold Medal for Music at the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1976.¹³

Short biography from NPR

Born in Walla Walla, WA, Aug 15, 1882
Died in South Hadley, MA, Aug 9, 1955

• Marion Bauer was a composer, though she is probably best remembered as a writer on music, educator, and advocate for contemporary American composers, particularly women composers.
• Bauer taught music history and composition at NYU from 1926–51 and was affiliated with Julliard from 1940 until her death.
• Bauer was a champion of American music and contemporary composers. She was a founding member of the American Music Guild, the Society of American Women Composers, and the American Composers Alliance, among many other organizations.
• As a composer, Bauer’s music rarely ventured beyond extended tonality, emphasizing coloristic harmony and diatonic dissonance.
  • Interestingly, in the 1920s, her music was seen as modernist. However, by the 1940s, it was viewed as conservative and well-crafted.
• Fun fact – Bauer was one of Nadia Boulanger‘s many illustrious pupils.¹⁴
• Interesting connection to Portland – Bauer’s parents were Jewish immigrants from France and had gotten married at Beth Israel Synagogue in Portland, Oregon. Bauer would later complete her formal academic education at St. Helen’s Hall in Portland, a private high school where her mother taught German.¹⁵

Learn More

Biography from the Jewish Women’s Archive
Short biography from Naxos

Born in Lawrence, MA, Aug 25, 1918
Died in New York, NY, Oct 14, 1990

Short biography

Born in Chicago, IL, 3 March 1913 
Died in Los Angeles, CA, 26 April 1972 

• Margaret Bonds studied piano and composition during her high school years in Chicago with Florence Price and William Levi Dawson. She went on to earn degrees from Northwestern University and The Julliard School. 
• In 1933, Bonds appeared as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Florence Price’s Piano Concerto. She was the first African-American woman to appear as a soloist with the Chicago SO. 
• Bonds was an especially prolific composer of vocal works. She composed musicals, choral music and songs, and frequently collaborated (in each of these genres) with poet Langston Hughes. She also arranged spirituals, many commissioned by Leontyne Price .²⁵

Biography from BlackPast.org 

Born in New York City, May 24, 1935

Biography from the composer’s website

Short biography from the African American Art Song Alliance

Born in Park Ridge, IL, Feb 28, 1876
Died in Chicago, April 26, 1951

• Carpenter studied music at Harvard. After graduation, he divided his time between composition and helping run his father’s business firm George Carpenter & Co.
• Fun fact: Carpenter and his wife Rue Witherbotham, an interior designer, created two books of music and pictures for children together: Improving Songs for Anxious Children and When Little Boys Sing.
• Fun fact: He composed a jazz-inflected piece based on a comic strip, Krazy Kat (1921)²⁸

Short biography

Born in Brooklyn, NY, 14 Nov 1900
Died in North Tarrytown, NY, 2 Dec 1990

• The child of Lithuanian immigrants and Aaron Copland was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY.
• Interestingly, Copland’s formal compositional training didn’t take place at a specific institution but rather with private teachers. He first studied under Rubin Goldmark, followed by Nadia Boulanger at the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau.
  • During his time in Paris, Copland became enamored with the music of Stravinsky and Milhaud; unsurprisingly, much of his early music reflects stylistic trends associated with the two composers, such as rhythmic unpredictability and the fusion of classical and popular styles.
• As a composer, Copland sought to compose music that was both uniquely American and would appeal to a wide audience.
  • In the composer’s New York Times obituary, the author wrote that “Copland’s greatest gift was his ability to be both serious and popular.”³⁹

Learn more:

Short biography/timeline from CopelandHouse.org

Born in Anniston, AL, Sept 23, 1899 
Died in Montgomery, AL, May 2, 1990 

• When he was a young teenager (13-15) Dawson enrolled in the Tuskegee Institute. He went on to study music at Horner Institute of Fine Arts, Kansas City, and the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago.⁴²
  • A biographical tribute from Tuskegee University reports that he ran away from home in order to attend Tuskegee, and that he worked his way through college doing manual labor.⁴³
• Dawson was a bassist and trombonist who played both jazz and classical music. He played bass with artists like Louis Armstrong, and he played trombone in the Chicago Civic Orchestra.⁴⁴ 
• Dawson taught at Tuskegee from 1931-1956. He conducted the Tuskegee Choir, which achieved international acclaim under his leadership.⁴⁵

Biography from Tuskegee University 

Born in Rochester, NY, July 9, 1915
Died in Rochester, NY, June 13, 2005⁵⁰

Composer’s website (The Estate of David Diamond)