List of African-American women in classical music

This is a list of African-American women in classical music. African-American women who are notable in various fields of classical music are listed here.

Composers

• 

  Portrait of Margaret Bonds.

  Lettie Alston (born 1953), composer
• Regina Harris Baiocchi (born 1956), composer, writer and educator
• Jasmine Arielle Barnes (born 1991), composer and singer
• Margaret Bonds (1913–1972), composer and pianist
• B. E. Boykin, composer, conductor, and pianist
• Valerie Coleman, composer and flutist
• Shirley Graham Du Bois (1896–1977), composer, author and activist
• Frances Gotay (1865-1932), composer ^{[1] [2]}
• Helen Eugenia Hagan (1891–1964), composer and pianist
• Nora Holt (1884–1974), composer, singer and music critic
• Betty Jackson King (1928–1994), composer, singer, pianist and educator
• Cynthia Cozette Lee (born 1953), composer and librettist
• Tania León (born 1943), composer and educator
• Lena McLin (born 1928), composer, author, pastor and educator
• Jessie Montgomery (born 1982), composer and chamber musician
• Dorothy Rudd Moore (born 1940), composer and educator
• Undine Smith Moore (1904–1989), composer, pianist and educator
• Joyce Solomon Moorman (born 1946), composer and educator
• Nkeiru Okoye (born 1972), composer
• Julia Perry (1924–1979), composer and educator
• Zenobia Powell Perry (1908–2004), composer, activist and educator
• Evelyn La Rue Pittman (1910–1992), composer
• Rosephanye Powell (born 1962), composer, singer and academic
• Florence Price (1887–1953), composer, pianist and educator
• Irene Britton Smith (1907–1999), composer and educator

Conductors

• Kalena Bovell, African-American and Hispanic conductor
• Yvette Devereaux (born 1940), conductor and violinist
• Eva Jessye (1895–1992), choral conductor, composer and educator
• Nina Gamble Kennedy (born 1960), conductor, filmmaker, pianist and writer
• Marsha Mabrey (born 1949), conductor, educator and violinist
• Kay George Roberts (born 1950), conductor and educator

Educators

• Harriet Gibbs Marshall (1868–1941), educator, writer and creator of the Washington Conservatory of Music and School of Expression
• Rebecca Walker Steele (1925–2019), educator, singer and choir director

Instrumentalists

• Velvet Brown, tuba player and educator
• Ezinma (born 1991), violinist and composer
• Nokuthula Ngwenyama (born 1976), violinist and composer
• Ann Hobson Pilot (born 1943), harpist
• Sonya Robinson (born 1959), violinist
• Carolyn Utz (1913–2005), bassist and conductor

Opera singers

• 

  Harolyn Blackwell performs in the East Room of the White House

  Adele Addison (born 1925), operatic soprano also performing in recitals and concerts
• Roberta Alexander (born 1949), international operatic soprano
• Betty Allen (1927–2009), mezzo-soprano who performed in concerts and operas from the 1950s and later served as an educator
• Marian Anderson (1897–1993), singer of classical music and spirituals, including opera
• Martina Arroyo (born 1936), major international operatic soprano
• Kathleen Battle (born 1948), operatic soprano and concert performer
• Harolyn Blackwell (born 1955), lyric coloratura soprano who has performed in many of the world's leading opera houses
• Angel Blue (1984), operatic soprano and classical crossover artist
• Angela Brown (born 1963), operatic soprano admired for performances of Verdi heroines
• Débria Brown (1936–2001), operatic mezzo-soprano and educator
• Janai Brugger (born 1983), operatic soprano performing in leading roles in several opera companies
• Hazel Joan Bryant (1939–1983), actress, opera singer, director and playwright
• Grace Bumbry (born 1937), leading mezzo-soprano of her generation

  

  Barbara Hendricks at the Festiwalu Dialogu Czterech Kultur, Łódź, Poland.

• Karla Burns (1954–2021), operatic mezzo-soprano and actress
• Alyson Cambridge (fl. 2000s), operatic soprano, classical and jazz concert singer and actress
• Cynthia Clarey (born 1949), operatic soprano and mezzo-soprano and classical concert performer
• Barbara Smith Conrad (1937–2017), operatic mezzo-soprano and educator
• Michèle Crider (born 1959), international lirico spinto soprano appearing in leading opera houses
• Clamma Dale (born 1948), international operatic soprano and concert performer acclaimed for her portrayal of Bess
• Billie Lynn Daniel (fl. 1960s), operatic soprano best known for performing Clara in Porgy and Bess
• Ellabelle Davis (1907–1960), operatic soprano remembered for performing Aida in the 1940s
• Gloria Davy (1931–2012), operatic soprano and concert singer who settled in Switzerland
• Mary Cardwell Dawson (1894–1962), musician, educator and founding director of the National Negro Opera Company
• Mattiwilda Dobbs (1925–2015), coloratura soprano, early international African-American performer
• Ruby Elzy (1908–1943), pioneering short-lived African-American operatic soprano
• Lillian Evanti (1890–1967), classical concert performer and opera singer who gained fame in France
• Maria Ewing (born 1950), operatic soprano and mezzo-soprano, classical and jazz concert performer
• Cassandra Extavour (fl. 2000s), Canadian geneticist and classical soprano singer
• Wilhelmenia Fernandez aka Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez, soprano, actress. (1949 – 2024)
• Zelma Watson George (1903–1994), philanthropist, musician and opera singer
• Gail Varina Gilmore (born 1950), gospel and mezzo-soprano opera singer, known for performing Kundry in Wagner's Parsifal
• Denyce Graves (born 1964), operatic mezzo-soprano known for performing the title roles in Carmen and Samson and Delilah
• Elizabeth Greenfield (c. 1820–1876), best known African-American concert singer of her times, also conductor and educator
• Reri Grist (born 1932), major international coloratura soprano and concert performer
• Cynthia Haymon (born 1958), soprano who has performed in opera and modern classical works
• Barbara Hendricks (born 1948), operatic soprano and concert singer who has settled in Switzerland
• Caterina Jarboro (1898–1986), pioneering African-American opera singer who performed the title role in Aida in 1933
• Betty Jones (1930–2019), operatic spinto soprano who performed in the 1970s
• Isola Jones (born 1949), mezzo-soprano opera singer and educator
• Sissieretta Jones (c.1869–1933), successful classical soprano who performed for American presidents and the British royal family
• Jonita Lattimore (fl. 1990s), soprano and educator who has performed in operatic roles and oratorio engagements
• Marquita Lister (born 1961), operatic soprano known for performing Bess in Porgy and Bess as well as Aida and Salome
• Marvis Martin (born 1956), operatic soprano best known for her concert performances and recitals
• Myra Merritt (fl. 1980s), operatic soprano and educator
• Abbie Mitchell (1884–1960), operatic soprano who performed Clara in the première of Porgy and Bess
• Latonia Moore (born 1979), classical soprano who has performed with leading opera companies
• Jessye Norman (1945–2019), celebrated dramatic soprano who performed leading roles in opera and sang in recitals
• Ailyn Pérez (born 1979), operatic soprano known for her interpretation of Violetta, Mimi and Thaïs
• Jillian Patricia Pirtle (born 1983), operatic soprano
• Leontyne Price (born 1927), internationally acclaimed soprano at the Metropolitan Opera
• Florence Quivar (born 1944), operatic mezzo-soprano who gave over 100 performance at the Metropolitan Opera
• La Julia Rhea (1898–1992), pioneering African-American operatic soprano who performed in Chicago from 1937
• Marie Selika Williams (1849–1937), coloratura soprano, the first African American to perform at the White House
• Murial Smith (1923–1985), singer who starred in musical theatre and opera from the 1940s
• Florence Cole Talbert (1890–1961), operatic soprano, music educator and musician
• Shirley Verrett (1931–2010), operatic mezzo-soprano known for singing works of Verdi and Donizetti from the late 1960s
• Felicia Weathers (born 1937), international soprano opera and concert singer
• Camilla Williams (1919–2012), operatic soprano and educator who performed nationally and internationally
• Ivory Winston (1911–1996), coloratura soprano, "Iowa's First Lady of Song"

Pianists

• Margaret Bonds (1913–1972), early composer and pianist
• Valerie Capers (born 1935), classical and jazz pianist, and composer
• Helen Eugenia Hagan (1891–1964), pianist, educator and composer
• Hazel Harrison (1883–1969), concert pianist
• Anne Gamble Kennedy (1920–2001), pianist, accompanist and educator
• Nina Gamble Kennedy (born 1960), pianist, conductor, filmmaker and writer
• Cornelia Lampton (1896-1928), pianist and educator
• Margaret Patrick (1913–1994), member of the Ebony and Ivory duo
• Philippa Schuyler (1931–1967), child prodigy, concert pianist and journalist
• Francesca "Frankye" A. Dixon (1915–1996), concert pianist

See also

• Lists of women in music
• List of classic female blues singers

References

1. Peña, Tomas. "The Convent Maestro: Sister Marie Seraphine Gotay". Puerto Rico Project. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
2. Sullivan, Lester (1988). "Composers of Color of Nineteenth-Century New Orleans: The History behind the Music". Black Music Research Journal. 8. Retrieved August 1, 2025.