Marva Griffin Carter is an American musician, composer, musicologist, and author. She has worked as an academic administrator and professor at

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...

since 1993. In 2020 the

Society for American Music The Society for American Music (SAM) was founded in 1975 and was first named the Sonneck Society in honor of Oscar George Theodore Sonneck, early Chief of the Music Division in the Library of Congress and pioneer scholar of American music. The S ...

recognized her work with a ''Lifetime Achievement Award'', granted "in recognition of the recipient's significant and substantial lifetime achievement in scholarship, performance, teaching, and/or support of American Music."

Early life and education

Carter graduated from the

Boston Conservatory Boston Conservatory at Berklee (formerly The Boston Conservatory) is a private performing arts conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, music, and theater. Boston Conservatory was founded o ...

(now Boston Conservatory at Berklee) with a

Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

in Piano Performance, and received a

Master of Music The Master of Music (MM or MMus) is, as an academic title, the first graduate degree in music awarded by universities and conservatories. The MM combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually performance in singing or i ...

from the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

. She then earned a second master's degree in musicology from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

in 1975. In 1988 she received a doctorate (PhD) from the University of Illinois at Urbana. The subject of her master's thesis at Boston University was the composer

Hall Johnson Francis Hall Johnson (March 12, 1888 – April 30, 1970) was an American composer and arranger of African-American spiritual music. He is one of a group—including Harry T. Burleigh, R. Nathaniel Dett, and Eva Jessye—who had great success per ...

. Her PhD dissertation was titled ''The life and music of

Will Marion Cook William Mercer Cook (January 27, 1869 – July 19, 1944), better known as Will Marion Cook, was an African-American composer, pianist, orchestrator, lyricist, violinist, and choral director.Riis, Thomas (2007–2011)Cook, Will Marion ''Grove Music ...

''. She has spoken of a serendipitous meeting in 1970 with the musicologist

Eileen Southern Eileen Jackson Southern (February 19, 1920 – October 13, 2002) was an American musicologist, researcher, author, and teacher. Southern's research focused on black American musical styles, musicians, and composers; she also published on early ...

, who inspired her to pursue an academic career, saying of the encounter, " hebasically recruited me," and "I would not have achieved what I have, or even pursued my areas of interest were it not for her."

Work and career

Carter began her academic career as coordinator of the African American Studies Program at

Simmons University Simmons University (previously Simmons College) is a private university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1899 by clothing manufacturer John Simmons. In 2018, it reorganized its structure and changed its name to a ...

, Boston. She then became the chair of the Music Department at

Morris Brown College Morris Brown College (MBC) is a Private university, private African Methodist Episcopal Church, Methodist Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlan ...

in Atlanta, Georgia. Since 1993 she has worked as an academic administrator and professor at Georgia State University, where she served as Assistant Director, later Director of Graduate Studies, and currently, Co-Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee in the School of Music. She was the 1998 Barbara Jordan/W. E. B. DuBois Award for Outstanding Teaching recipient. She is a member of the

American Musicological Society The American Musicological Society (AMS) is a musicological organization which researches, promotes and produces publications on music. Founded in 1934, the AMS was begun by leading American musicologists of the time, and was crucial in legiti ...

and the

. Her book ''Swing Along: The Musical life of Will Marion Cook'' was published in 2008. Carter was the organist for

Ebenezer Baptist Church Ebenezer Baptist Church is a Baptist megachurch located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with the Progressive National Baptist Convention and American Baptist Churches USA. It was the church where Dr. Martin Luther King Sr. was c ...

in Atlanta. She is also writing a book about the sacred musical traditions and repertoire of the historic church. In 2020, her work was recognized with the Society for American Music's ''Lifetime Achievement Award''. Carter was featured in

Harvard Radcliffe Institute The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, is an institute of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts ...

's 2022 webinar ''Black Music and the American University: Eileen Southern's Story''.

Personal life

Griffin Carter is married to the historian and civil rights scholar Lawrence Carter. They have one son, Lawrence Edward Carter Jr.

Publications

*Griffin Carter, Marva. ''Hall Johnson – Preserver of the Old Negro Spiritual'' (1880–1970). ''www.worldcat.org''. Retrieved 2023-03-24. (Master's thesis, Boston University, 1975) *Griffin Carter, Marva. ''Roland Hayes–Expressor of the Soul in Song (1887–1977)'', ''The Black Perspective in Music'', Autumn 1977, 188. *Griffin Carter, Marva. ''The life and music of Will Marion Cook''. ''Thesis, Dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign''. 1988 – via WorldCat. *Carter, Marva Griffin. ''The "New Negro" Legacy of Will Marion Cook. Afro-Americans in New York Life and History'' (1999). Vol.23 (1), p.25-37 *''The "New Negro" Choral Legacy of Hall Johnson'', ''Chorus and community,'' Ahlquist, Karen, ed. (2006). Urbana: University of Illinois Press. . *Weisenfeld, Judith (2011). ''"The Secret at the Root": Performing African American Religious Modernity in Hall Johnson's Run, Little Chillun''. ''Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation''. 21 (1): 39–80. *Carter, Marva Griffin (2008). ''Swing along: the musical life of Will Marion Cook''. Oxford University Press. *''Colloquy: Shadow Culture Narratives: Race, Gender, and American Music Historiography'', ''Journal of the American Musicological Society'' (2020) 73 (3): 711–784.

Notes

References

External links

Marva Griffin Carter Biography
Georgia State University
American Popular Song Series: Will Marion Cook
(Marva Griffin Carter, ''et al''. on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

Fresh Air with Terry Gross ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's hosts are Terry Gross and Tonya Mosley. , the s ...

, 2001)
American Popular Song: Will Marion Cook's Lyrics and Life
(Marva Griffin Carter, ''et al''. on NPR, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, 2000) {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin Carter, Marva American women musicologists 20th-century American musicologists 20th-century American women musicians Boston Conservatory at Berklee alumni Boston University College of Fine Arts alumni New England Conservatory alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Simmons University faculty Morris Brown College faculty Georgia State University faculty Year of birth missing (living people) Living people