Nora Holt

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Nora Douglas Holt (1885 or 1890 – January 25, 1974) was an American singer, composer and music critic, who was born in Kansas and was the first African American to receive a masters degree in in the United States. She composed over 200 works of music and was associated with the leading figures of the Harlem Renaissance and the co-founder of the National Association of Negro Musicians. She died in 1974 in Los Angeles.

[edit] Biography

Born Lena Douglas in Kansas City, Kansas in either 1885 or 1890 to Calvin Douglas, an African Methodist Episcopal Church minister and Gracie Brown Douglas. She graduated Western University at Quindaro, Kansas and later earned a bachelors degree in music in 1917. In 1918 she earned her masters degree in music at Chicago Musical College, becoming the first African American woman to do so in the United states and also studied music education at the University of Southern California during the late 1930's. At the Chicago Musical College her thesis composition was an orchestral work called Rhapsody on Negro Themes. She was married five times and in 1916 married her fourth husband, hotel owner George Holt, taking his name and changing her first name to "Nora".[1]

During the time from 1917-1921 she contributed to the Chicago Defender, a black daily newspaper, contributing musical criticism pieces. In 1919 she co-founded the National Association of Negro Musicians and then spent 12 years abroad in Europe and Asia singing at night clubs and private parties. She composed over 200 works of orchestral music and chamber songs, however upon leaving for Europe in 1926 she placed her manuscripts in storage and upon returning discovered that they had all been stolen. Only one piece survived because it was published prior to her works being stolen and is called Negro Dance, which is a ragtime-like piano piece.[2]

During the 1920's Holt was known as a wild socialite and was fairly wealthy due to her inheritance from her late husband George Holt. In 1923 she married Joseph Ray, assistant to tycoon Charles Schwab and was her fifth marriage. They moved to Pennsylvania, But the marriage did not last and she soon moved to Harlem and became an important part of the Harlem Renaissance and became good friends with novelist and critic Carl Van Vechten. During the 1930's she studied at the University of Southern California and taught music in Los Angeles for several years as well. In 1943 she took a position as an editor and music critic with a black-oriented publication called Amsterdam News.[3]

During the early 1950's to early 1960's Holt began hosting radio concert series called "Nora Holt's Concert Showcase" which ended in 1964. In 1966 she was a member of the First World Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar, Senegal. Nora Holt died January 25, 1974 in Los Angeles.

[edit] Further reading

[edit] References

  1. ^ Nora Holt. Retrieved on 2007-07-28.
  2. ^ This can be found online sampled here.
  3. ^ Singer and Music critic. Retrieved on 2007-07-28.