In celebration of Black History Month, the Department of Music has curated a list of music that exemplifies Black Excellence in music! Thank you to Dr. Aaron Johnson, chair of the Department of Music; Candace Burgess, a Musicology graduate student who specializes in Black classical composers; Chad Taylor, Artistic Director of Jazz Studies; and Emmanuel Berrido, the Concerts and Communications Coordinator with their help in putting together the following list of music:
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Valerie Coleman:Composer Valerie Coleman is a GRAMMY-nominated flautist and composer, and creator of the critically acclaimed wind quintet Imani Winds. She’s been highlighted as one of the “Top 35 Women Composers” by The Washington Post and her work Umoja, Anthem for Unity was chosen by Chamber Music America as one of the “Top 101 Great American Ensemble Works.”Listening recommendation: Elegy for solo flute and flute choir.
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Tania León:Tania León is considered one of the most influential musicians of her generation, having been commissioned by some of the most iconic ensembles and soloists around the world. The first Latin American woman to the receive the Pulitzer Prize in Music, she has been instrumental in founding organizations and efforts dedicated to the perpetuation of contemporary arts such as the Dance Theatre of Harlem and the American Composers Orchestra’s Sonidos de las Américas Festivals. In 2024, Brooklyn College announced the creation of the Tania León Chair of Music, the institution’s first-ever endowed chair of music.Listening recommendation: Indígena for chamber orchestra.
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Robert Owens:Robert Owens moved to Europe after returning from World War II to pursue music studies in Europe, studying at the École de Musique in Paris, making his European piano debut in 1952 in Denmark. Afterwards he moved to Vienna, Austria, studying with Gater Hinterhofer at the Music und Darstellende Dunst Akademie. Owens moved to the States in 1957 for a short while to teach in Albany, NY, but later returned to Germany in 1959. Owens made Munich his permanent home in 1964, where he passed away in 2017. In his life, Owens gathered several prestigious awards, among them the International Lifetime Achievement Award, from the National Association of Negro Musicians, the “Lift Every Voice” Legacy Award for lifetime achievement in opera, from the National Opera Association.Listening recommendation: 2 Songs, Op. 120: No. 1, “I Am a Part of the Load,” for soprano and cello.
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John Lee Clayton:John Clayton is one of the most respected figures in jazz, celebrated as a bassist, composer, arranger, educator, and visionary collaborator. A co-founder of the GRAMMY®-winning Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Clayton has shaped the sound of modern big band writing while maintaining a deep commitment to swing, groove, and musical storytelling. His influence extends far beyond the concert hall: among his most iconic contributions is his arrangement of the U.S. National Anthem for Whitney Houston’s 1991 Super Bowl performance—widely regarded as one of the most powerful and enduring renditions in American history.Listening recommendation: U.S. National Anthem, performed by Whitney Houston for the 1991 Super Bowl.
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Billie Holiday:Nicknamed “Lady Day” by her friend and music partner Lester Young, Billie Holiday’s vocal style inspired different ways of manipulating phrasing and tempo. She was known not only for her vocal delivery, but also for her improvisational skills. Her song, God Bless the Child, was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1976, and it was also included in the list of “Songs of the Century” by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.Listening recommendation: Billie Holiday, God Bless the Child.
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Henry Threadgill:Henry Luther Threadgill is a towering figure in American music whose work embodies innovation, rigor, and cultural depth. A composer, improviser, and bandleader, he has reshaped jazz and experimental music for more than five decades. From his early involvement with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians to landmark ensembles such as Air and Zooid, Threadgill created original musical systems grounded in African American creative traditions. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2016 for his album In for a Penny, In for a Pound, which premiered at Roulette Intermedium in 2014. Threadgill's album was the third by a jazz composer to win the Pulitzer Prize, following Wynton Marsalis' Blood on the Fields in 1997 and Ornette Coleman's Sound Grammar in 2007.Listening recommendation: Exacto by Henry Threadgill, from the album Very Very Circus.
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Marshall Allen:Marshall Allen is a living pillar of American experimental music and a vital link between its radical past and future. Best known as the longtime leader of the Sun Ra Arkestra, Allen has sustained and expanded Sun Ra’s Afrofuturist vision with remarkable vitality. An alto saxophonist of singular sound and imagination, he continues to create new work well into his second century of life! Allen turned 100 on May 25, 2024, and on October 4, 2024, he released the first single African Sunset from his forthcoming debut album as a solo artist which was recorded a few days after his 100th birthday. The album New Dawn was released on February 14, 2025.Listening recommendation: His entire album New Dawn!