#ClassicsaDay #BlackHistoryMonth Week 4, 2025
By Ralph Graves
February is Black History Month and a logical time to highlight contributions by people of color to classical music. Those contributions have been significant — and not just in the past 50 years.
This month’s #ClassicsaDay challenge is to post musical examples of works by composers of color, or classical music recordings made by people of color. There is a lot to choose from.
Here are my social media posts for the fourth and final week of #BlackHistoryMonth.
02/24/25 Margaret Bonds – Montgomery Variations
Bonds wrote this work in 1964. It’s based on a spiritual, and depicts the major events of the Civil Rights Movement, beginning with the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott.
02/25/25 Clarence Cameron White: Bandana Sketches II & IV
White was a violinist and composer active in the early 20th century. The work features arrangements of four African-American spirituals and work songs.
08/26/25 Zenobia Powell Perry: Homage
“Homage” is a movement from “Piano Potpourri,” written in 1990. Perry composed it in homage to Black composer William Dawson. “Homage” is often performed as a stand-alone piece.
02/27/25 Thomas Kerr: Riding to Town
The song uses the poem “Riding to Town” by Paul Laurence Dunbar. It was written in 1943 and was included in the “Anthology of Art Songs by Black American Composers.”
08/28/25 Regina Harris Baiocchi: Communion
This work is a concertino for marimba and string quartet. It was inspired by the mural “Communion of the Saints” in St. Elizabeth Seaton Church, Naperville, IL. It was painted by Lillian Brulc.
Next month:
