Julia Perry

Julia Perry was a noteworthy American composer who combined her Neoclassical style with her African American roots to create countless outstanding works. Photo: Julia Perry, public domain. Julia Perry was a composer, conductor, vocalist and teacher who surpassed countless social expectations by being a prominent African American artist in a world of music dominated by white elites. She received both her Bachelor and Masters Degrees from Westminster Choir College and went on to study composition in Europe from famous composers including Luigi Dallapiccola and Nadia Boulanger. A few of her honors include two Guggenheim fellowships, the Boulanger Grand Prize, and a National Institute of Arts and Letters Award. Perry’s own exploration of race throughout her life can be easily perceived through the audible changes to her style as time passes. For most of her musical upbringing she was surrounded by white teachers and colleagues, from her years at mostly white Westminster Choir College to her time in Europe studying from white teachers. Her early pieces include idioms of Spirituals and other African American influences but as she continued in her largely white American and European education her music began to follow the compositional techniques of her mentors. These techniques can be seen in pieces such as her well known Stabat Mater for contralto and strings. “Julia Perry.” From Spirituals to Symphonies: African-American Women Composers and Their Musc, by Helen Walker-Hill, Univ. of Illinois Press, 2007, pp. 93–131. Edwards, J. Michele. “Perry, Julia.” Grove Music Online. 2001. Oxford University Press. Date of access 24 Jun. 2020, Calvary (Spiritual) (1954) - Betty Jackson King Come Down Angels (Spiritual) (1978) - Undine Smith Moore Dry Bones (Spiritual) (1946) - Margaret Bonds Free At Last (Spiritual) (1951) - Julia Perry He's Got the Whole World In His Hand (Spiritual) (1963) - Margaret Bonds I Am in Doubt (1975) - Undine Smith Moore I'm a Poor Li'l Orphan in This Worl' (Spiritual) (1952) - Julia Perry In the Springtime (1976) - Betty Jackson King Is There Anybody Here That Loves My Jesus (Spiritual) (1981) - Undine Smith Moore It's Me, O Lord (Spiritual) (1988) - Betty Jackson King Lord, I Just Can't Keep from Cryin' (Spiritual) (1946) - Margaret Bonds Love Let the Wind Cry… How I Adore Thee (1977) - Undine Smith Moore My Dream (1935) - Florence B. Price My Soul's Been Anchored in the Lord (Spiritual) (1937) - Florence B. Price Night (1946) - Florence B. Price Song to the Dark Virgin (1926) - Florence B. Price The Negro Speaks of Rivers (1942) - Margaret Bonds Three Dream Portraits (1959) - Margaret Bonds Watch and Pray (Spiritual) (1972) - Undine Smith Moore