Performers: Marian Anderson (1897–1993): Sound, Gender, and the Color Line

Catalog description

This course looks at the history of popular, vernacular, and art music in various time periods. Studying music from the ground up, we examine how performers have influenced music history. We will focus on the life, times, and art of legendary African-American contralto and native Philadelphian Marian Anderson, whose archive is housed by the University of Pennsylvania’s Kislak Center for Special Collections. Anderson's legacy remains extraordinarily relevant today as the country and the music world face new and old challenges in broadening access and fostering equality across boundaries of race, gender, and social class. We will develop hands-on projects based on Penn’s archival holdings (photos, diaries, letters, programs, audio materials, and scores) to explore Anderson’s pathbreaking role in American history, impacting music, politics, racial and gender relationships, and social justice. The exciting primary-source foundation will be complemented by secondary readings, listenings, and viewings.