In the documentary Quincy, about the life of legendary music producer Quincy Jones, we learn that Jones studied with Nadia Boulanger, considered one of the best classical music instructors in the world. Jones wanted to be a classical composer but went on to become a leading jazz composer and R&B producer instead.
Classical music critic Alex Ross in a recent The New Yorker article wrote, “Will Marion Cook, Fletcher Henderson, Billy Strayhorn, and Nina Simone, among many others, had initially devoted themselves to classical-music studies. That jazz came to be called ‘America’s classical music’ was an indirect commentary on the whiteness of the concert world.”
It’s clear that racism undoubtedly had a hand in steering some classical music aspirants away from the discipline.
The fact, then, that George Walker, who also studied with Boulanger, was a classical musician his entire career, is all the more impressive. Born in Washington, D.C. in 1922, Walker began studying piano at five, and went on to become the first Black instrumentalist to perform at Manhattan’s Town Hall. It’s one of a list of other “firsts” too long to enumerate here other than to add that Walker was the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for music. Still, he remains relatively unknown despite his vast accomplishments. To say George Walker is woefully underappreciated, is an understatement.
The Alexander String Quartet (AST) will begin remedying that unfortunate fact this month, where they’ll perform some of Walker’s work in a series of virtual concerts presented by Baruch Performing Arts Center through Nov. 29.
Read the entire article here.