June was Black Music Month Black Female Musicians Valorized

Submitted by Rev. Gene Hall

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
Psalm 150:1-6

I am really impressed with the impact music has upon people representing various cultures within different hemispheres. Accordingly, here are a few related quotes from famous personalities across the globe:
“People haven’t always been there for me but music always has”… Taylor Swift.
“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness”… Maya Angelou.
“Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without”… Confucius.
June was Black Music Month, and it is fitting that we take a look at the indelible mark black female musicians have made on this form of art. Before Nicki Minaj made history as the female artist with the most Billboard 100 hits in history, before Beyoncé became the most decorated Black female Grammy Winner of all time, before Gloria Gaynor was lauded with being the first and only winner of the Best Disco Recording Grammy Award, before Whitney Houston won 30 Billboard Music Awards, before Rihanna garnished the most number one pop songs by a woman on Billboard charts, or before Aretha Franklin was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame in 1987, there were unsung black women who charted the careers for other ladies of all musical genres.
Hence, we’ll celebrate some of the great Black female opera singers who paved the way for artists who are still with us today. Musicologists often say their stories and recordings are a treasure for listeners and an epiphany for vocalists. Among them (source - All Classical Portland):

Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield (c.1819-1876) was born into slavery in Mississippi. A pianist, harpist, and foremost a soprano, she challenged listeners’ preconceptions in her 1851 national concert tour. On March 31, 1853, she debuted at New York City’s Metropolitan Hall, her performance was critically acclaimed and led to a successful European concert tour, during which she sang for Queen Victoria.

Sissieretta Jones (1868-1933) was the first African-American woman to sing at Carnegie Hall, headlining a concert there in 1893. She sang at Madison Square Garden (conducted by Dvořák), toured internationally, and sang for President Harrison and for European royalty.

Florence Cole-Talbert’s (1890-1961) career as an educator was central to her legacy. One of the young singers she encouraged was Marian Anderson, whose voice so impressed her that she gave a benefit concert to help fund Anderson’s music education.

Marian Anderson (1897-1993) began singing at 6 as a member of her church’s junior choir. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt helped arrange for Anderson to perform her historic 1939 recital on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. In 1955, near the close of her career, Anderson made history appearing as Ulrica in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera.

Like Marian Anderson, soprano Ruby Elzy (1908-1943) appeared in 1933 in the film The Emperor Jones with Paul Robeson. George Gershwin composed the role of Serena in Porgy and Bess for Elzy, and she performed the role over 800 times during the course of her career.

When Serge Koussevitzky heard soprano Dorothy Maynor (1910-1996) in 1939 at Tanglewood, he said “It is a miracle! It is a musical revelation! The world must hear her!” Maynor concertized internationally in the 1940s and 50s and recorded the role of Leonore in Fidelio under Toscanini. In 1963 Maynor retired from the concert stage and founded the Harlem School of the Arts, where she made arts education accessible to countless underprivileged children.

In 1945, Camilla Williams (1919-2012) appeared in Madama Butterfly with the New York City Opera, becoming the first African-American woman to win a contract with a major American opera company.

Jessye Norman (1945-2019) Born in Georgia, Norman studied at the Peabody Institute and won the Munich International Music Competition in 1968. She made her operatic debut in Berlin as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser and became one of the foremost singers on the international stage.

It seems only fitting to close out the list of Afro-American female musical trailblazers by speaking on the legacy of Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915 – 1973). Based on the testimony of a myriad of sources, Rock-n-Roll was invented by this nonbinary woman born in 1915 in Cotton Plant, Arkansas. The electric guitar was first played in ways very few people could ever imagine by a woman who was allowed to play, due to social norms of the time, at very few venues around the country.
“Everyone from Jerry Lee Lewis to Aretha Franklin credited her musicianship as an important influence on them. She influenced Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Little Richard”, says Tharpe’s biographer Gayle Wald.
In a nutshell, I am convinced now as ethnologists who study different societies and cultures across the horizons confirm, that one generation builds upon the legacy of previous ones. Thus, the Rihannas and Nikki Minajs of today may want to tip their hats to the Elizabeth Taylor Greenfields and Marian Andersons of yesterday.