Black Classical Composers and Musicians

Black people have composed and performed classical music as long as the genre has existed. King Henry VIII had a Black trumpeter, John Blanke. Beethoven wrote the Kreutzer Sonata for a Black violinist, George Bridgetower (1780-1860). Le... [more]

Black people have composed and performed classical music as long as the genre has existed. King Henry VIII had a Black trumpeter, John Blanke. Beethoven wrote the Kreutzer Sonata for a Black violinist, George Bridgetower (1780-1860). Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799) was a leading Afro-French composer, violinist and conductor in Paris. He regularly played music at Versailles with Queen Marie-Antoinette.