# 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
* Margaret Bonds (1913–1972), composer and pianist
* Valerie Coleman, composer and flutist
* Shirley Graham Du Bois (1896–1977), composer, author and activist
* 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
* 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 HouseAdele 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 generationBarbara 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