Eva Jessye
Encyclopedia
Eva Jessye was an African American who was the first black woman to receive international distinction as a professional choral conductor. She is notable as a choral conductor during the Harlem Renaissance
, who created her own choral group featured widely in performance. Her professional influence extended for decades through her teaching as well. Her accomplishments in this field were historic for any woman. She collaborated in productions of groundbreaking works, directing her choir and working with Virgil Thomson
and Gertrude Stein
on Four Saints in Three Acts
(1933), and serving as musical director with George Gershwin
on his innovative opera Porgy and Bess
(1935).
. She was educated at Western University
(formerly Quindaro State), a historically black university in Kansas, and Langston University
in Oklahoma
. She later studied privately with Will Marion Cook
in New York
.
In 1919 Jessye began work as the choir director at Morgan State College
in Baltimore
. She returned west for a time to teach at an AME Church school in Oklahoma. In 1926 she went back East to Baltimore, where she began to perform regularly with her group the "Eva Jessye Choir". She had first named them the "Original Dixie Jubilee Singers", but many groups began to appropriate the name Dixie Jubilee Singers, so she changed hers.
She and the group moved to New York, where they appeared frequently in the stage show at the Capitol Theatre, where Eugene Ormandy
conducted the orchestra. They were also frequent performers on NBC
and WOR
radio in New York in the 1920s and 1930s. They recorded on Brunswick, Columbia
, and Cameo records in the 1920s. In 1929 Jessye went to Hollywood as the choral director for the MGM film Hallelujah
, which had an all-black cast directed by King Vidor
.
In New York, Jessye worked with creative multi-racial teams in groundbreaking productions that experimented with form, music and stories. In 1933, she directed her choir in Virgil Thomson
's and Gertrude Stein
's opera, Four Saints in Three Acts
, produced as a Broadway theatre
work. In 1935, George Gershwin
chose her as his music director for his opera Porgy and Bess
.
In 1927 Jessye published My Spirituals, a collection of her arrangements of spirituals, together with stories about growing up in southeast Kansas.
Jessye also composed her own choral works:
These combined spirituals, religious narrative or biblical text, and her orchestral compositions.
An active supporter of the Civil Rights Movement
, Jessye and her choir participated in the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
. Active into her 80s, she taught at the University of Michigan. Dr. Jessye was a member of Sigma Gamma Rho
sorority.
, she established the Eva Jessye African-American Music Collection at the University of Michigan
. She left most of her personal papers to Pittsburg State University
in Kansas.
Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s and 1930s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke...
, who created her own choral group featured widely in performance. Her professional influence extended for decades through her teaching as well. Her accomplishments in this field were historic for any woman. She collaborated in productions of groundbreaking works, directing her choir and working with Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music...
and Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
on Four Saints in Three Acts
Four Saints in Three Acts
Four Saints in Three Acts is an opera by American composer Virgil Thomson with a libretto by Gertrude Stein. Written in 1927-8, it contains about 20 saints, and is in at least four acts...
(1933), and serving as musical director with George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
on his innovative opera Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...
(1935).
Early life and education
Eva Jessye was born January 20, 1895 in Lawrence, KansasLawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...
. She was educated at Western University
Western University (Kansas)
Western University was a historically black college established as Quindaro Freedman's School at Quindaro, Kansas after the Civil War. It was the earliest school for African Americans west of the Mississippi River and the only one ever to operate in the state of Kansas...
(formerly Quindaro State), a historically black university in Kansas, and Langston University
Langston University
Langston University is an institution of higher learning located in Langston, Oklahoma, USA. It is the only historically black college in the state, and the westernmost historically black college in the United States...
in Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. She later studied privately with Will Marion Cook
Will Marion Cook
William Mercer Cook , better known as Will Marion Cook, was an African American composer and violinist from the United States. Cook was a student of Antonín Dvořák and performed for King George V among others...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
In 1919 Jessye began work as the choir director at Morgan State College
Morgan State University
Morgan State University, formerly Centenary Biblical Institute , Morgan College and Morgan State College , is a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Morgan is Maryland's designated public urban university and the largest HBCU in the state of Maryland...
in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
. She returned west for a time to teach at an AME Church school in Oklahoma. In 1926 she went back East to Baltimore, where she began to perform regularly with her group the "Eva Jessye Choir". She had first named them the "Original Dixie Jubilee Singers", but many groups began to appropriate the name Dixie Jubilee Singers, so she changed hers.
She and the group moved to New York, where they appeared frequently in the stage show at the Capitol Theatre, where Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born conductor and violinist.-Early life:Born Jenő Blau in Budapest, Hungary, Ormandy began studying violin at the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music at the age of five...
conducted the orchestra. They were also frequent performers on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
and WOR
WOR (AM)
WOR is a class A , AM radio station located in New York, New York, U.S., operating on 710 kHz. The station has a talk format and has been owned by Buckley Broadcasting since 1987, after the station was sold by RKO. The station has conservative, or right-of-center hosts.Its call letters have no...
radio in New York in the 1920s and 1930s. They recorded on Brunswick, Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, and Cameo records in the 1920s. In 1929 Jessye went to Hollywood as the choral director for the MGM film Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Halleluyah, and the Latin form Alleluia are transliterations of the Hebrew word meaning "Praise Yah". The last syllable is from the first two letters of the name of God, YHWH, written JHVH in Latin). Hallelujah is found primarily in the book of Psalms...
, which had an all-black cast directed by King Vidor
King Vidor
King Wallis Vidor was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose career spanned nearly seven decades...
.
In New York, Jessye worked with creative multi-racial teams in groundbreaking productions that experimented with form, music and stories. In 1933, she directed her choir in Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music...
's and Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
's opera, Four Saints in Three Acts
Four Saints in Three Acts
Four Saints in Three Acts is an opera by American composer Virgil Thomson with a libretto by Gertrude Stein. Written in 1927-8, it contains about 20 saints, and is in at least four acts...
, produced as a Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
work. In 1935, George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
chose her as his music director for his opera Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...
.
In 1927 Jessye published My Spirituals, a collection of her arrangements of spirituals, together with stories about growing up in southeast Kansas.
Jessye also composed her own choral works:
- The Life of Christ in Negro Spirituals (1931);
- Paradise Lost and Regained (1934), a folk oratorioOratorioAn oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
; and - The Chronicle of Job (1936).
These combined spirituals, religious narrative or biblical text, and her orchestral compositions.
An active supporter of the Civil Rights Movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
, Jessye and her choir participated in the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was the largest political rally for human rights in United States history and called for civil and economic rights for African Americans. It took place in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, August 28, 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr...
. Active into her 80s, she taught at the University of Michigan. Dr. Jessye was a member of Sigma Gamma Rho
Sigma Gamma Rho
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. was founded on the campus of Butler University on November 12, 1922, by seven school teachers in Indianapolis, Indiana...
sorority.
Legacy and honors
Shortly before her death in Ann Arbor, MichiganAnn Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
, she established the Eva Jessye African-American Music Collection at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
. She left most of her personal papers to Pittsburg State University
Pittsburg State University
Pittsburg State University, also called Pitt State or PSU, is a public university with approximately 7,100 students located in Pittsburg, Kansas, United States. A large percentage of the student population consists of residents within the Pittsburg region; the gender proportion is relatively equal...
in Kansas.
External links
- "Eva Jessye", Short biography, University of Michigan
- "Eva Jessye", Pittsburgh State University
- "Interview with Eva Jessye", WGBH series, Say Brother
- "Eva Jessye", Kansas State Historical Society