Margaret Rosezarian Harris

Margaret Rosezarian Harris (September 15, 1943 – March 7, 2000) was an American musician, conductor, composer, and educator, the first African-American woman to conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and 13 other cities' orchestras.[1]

Early life and education

Margaret Rosezarian Harris was born in Chicago, Illinois,[2] the daughter of Dewey Harris, a railroad mechanic, and Clara Townsend Harris, a dressmaker. At age 3, she was recognized as a musical prodigy, and gave her first piano recital at Chicago's Cary Temple Auditorium, performing more than twenty short pieces from memory. She toured the United States as a child performer until age 6.[3] At age 10, after performing a Mozart concerto with the Chicago Symphony,[4][5] she won a scholarship to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and moved there with her mother. Margaret Harris earned undergraduate and master's degrees, with highest honors, from the Juilliard School.[6]

Career

In 1970, she took over the role of musical director for the Broadway production of Hair, conducting an orchestra of seven older male musicians. Later she worked on the Broadway musical adaptations Raisin and Two Gentlemen of Verona, among other shows. She moved between popular and classical contexts. Among her compositions were two ballets, an opera, and a piano concerto. She was co-founder of Opera Ebony.[7][8] "All I care about is that music be good, and that it communicate with a broader public, without special introductions of apologies. All those barriers between pop and classical are snobbish, artificial."[9] The National Association of Negro Musicians honored Margaret R. Harris in 1972 for her achievements.[10] In 1975, she became the first black woman to conduct the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and the first woman to conduct there in over forty years.[11]

In 1995, Harris went to Tashkent, Uzbekistan to consult on a production of Porgy and Bess.[6]

Margaret R. Harris died in 2000, aged 56 years, in New York City, after a heart attack. She was about to take up an appointment at associate dean of the Pennsylvania Academy of Music at the time of her sudden death.[6]

References
  1. Joan Potter, African-American Firsts: Famous Little-known and Unsung Triumphs of Blacks in America (Dafina Books 2009): 286-287. ISBN 9780758241665
  2. "Margaret Harris Conducts Chicago Symphony Orchestra" Chicago Daily Defender (July 24, 1971): 15.
  3. "Negro Prodigy, 3, Goes to Court to Arrange Career" Gazette and Daily (September 13, 1947): 19. via Newspapers.com
  4. Helen Walker Hill, From Spirituals to Symphonies: African American Women Composers and their Music (University of Illinois Press 2002): 38. ISBN 9780252074547
  5. "Chicago Girl To Play With Symphony Orchestra: Margaret Harris Set for 2 Performances" Chicago Defender (November 14, 1953): 8.
  6. Anthony Tommasini, "Margaret Rosezarian Harris, Musician and Educator, 56" New York Times (March 22, 2000).
  7. Aaron Horne, Brass Music of Black Composers: A Bibliography (Greenwood Publishing 1996): 125. ISBN 9780313298264
  8. Tom Di Nardo, "Opera Ebony: Breaking Up Hard to Do" Philly.com (January 15, 1987).
  9. Myrna Oliver, "Margaret R. Harris: Pianist, Pioneering Conductor" Los Angeles Times (March 23, 2000).
  10. "NANM Honors Duke Ellington and Margaret Harris at Confab '72" Chicago Daily Defender (July 22, 1972): 23.
  11. "Ms. Harris Symphony Conducts" Pittsburgh Courier (August 2, 1975): 4. via Newspapers.com
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