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 Excellence Music Project
Center for Black Music Research (primarily historical collections)
Leon Robbin Gallery at Georgetown University Library
The Mary Lou Williams Foundation
Mary Lou Williams: The Lady who Swings the Band (2015) (video)
Music by Black Composers Living Composers Directory
Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University
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.
Music by Black Composers: Violin Vol. 1. Arranged by Rachel Barton Pine.
Advocates
African American Art Song Alliance
Updated 8/3/2022