Dorothy Rudd Moore
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Dorothy Rudd Moore (June 4, 1940 – March 30, 2022) was an American composer and music educator. She was one of the co-founders of the Society of Black Composers. She is considered one of the leading women composers of color for her generation and did commissions for the National Symphony, Opera Ebony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and solo artists. She was a member of the American Composers Alliance, BMI,
New York Singing Teachers Association The New York Singing Teachers' Association (NYSTA) is an international educational association of singing teachers and affiliated voice professionals based in New York City. It was founded in 1906, and is the oldest such group based in the United S ...
, and New York Women Composers. Her works were unpublished, but are available through the
American Composers Alliance The American Composers Alliance (ACA) is an American nonprofit composer service organization dedicated to the publishing and promoting of American contemporary classical music. Founded in 1937 by Aaron Copland, Milton Adolphus, Marion Bauer and ...
.


Biography

Moore was born in
New Castle, Delaware New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The city is located six miles (10 km) south of Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington and is situated on the Delaware River. As of 2020, the city's population was 5,551. New Cast ...
. She was born to a musical family, her mother encouraged her to pursue studies in music and to explore all of her interests one of them being piano lessons Moore knew she wanted to become a composer at a young age and took piano lessons as a child at the Wilmington School of Music, where she studied with Harry Andrews. She learned to play
clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...
in order to join the Howard High all-male band. She was involved with music in other ways including music theory studies, the high school orchestra and choir, and the church choir. Moore started her undergraduate studies at
Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...
as a music education major but later switched to composition, as she was constantly inventing songs and melodies when she played, "I didn't even know that the word '
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...
' existed... I just used to do the music" - Dorothy Rudd Moore 1978 . She studied with Dean Warner Lawson, Thomas Kerr, and Mark Fax, graduating in 1963 with a Bachelor of Music. She received the Lucy Moten Fellowship to study in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
where she continued her studies with
Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher, conductor and composer. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organis ...
at the
American Conservatory The Fontainebleau Schools were founded in 1921, and consist of two schools: ''The American Conservatory'', and the ''School of Fine Arts at Fontainebleau''. History When the American Expeditionary Forces entered the First World War, the command ...
at Fontainebleau in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in 1963,
Chou Wen-Chung Chou Wen-chung (; July 28, 1923 – October 25, 2019) was a Chinese American composer of contemporary classical music. He emigrated in 1946 to the United States and received his music training at the New England Conservatory and Columbia Univ ...
in New York in 1965, and Lola Hayes in 1972. Throughout her career her works was commissioned by the nation's top orchestras, including the ational Symphony pera Ebony and the uffalo Philharmonic Moore worked as a private music teacher, from 1965 to 1966 taught at the
Harlem School of the Arts Harlem School of the Arts (HSA) is an art school located in the Harlem section of Manhattan, New York City, United States. Opening its doors in 1964, HSA serves ages 2 through 18. History Harlem School of the Arts was founded in 1964, by sopra ...
, in 1969 at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
, and in 1971 at the
Bronx Community College The Bronx Community College of the City University of New York (BCC) is a public community college in the Bronx, New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. History The college was established in 1957 through the effo ...
. She married
cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
and conductor,
Kermit Moore Kermit Moore (March 11, 1929 – November 11, 2013) was an American conductor, cellist, and composer. Early life and education Of African American heritage, Moore was born in Akron, Ohio. While still in high school, Moore studied at the Cl ...
, in 1964. In 1968, she co-founded the Society of Black Composers in New York City. In 1969, Moore and her husband were almost prevented from performing at the 1969 Damrosch Memorial Concert because "administrators fretted over having not just one but two '
Negro In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black people, Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from ...
es' on the program." Moore received the Lucy Moten fellowship in 1963 as her first award and followed by many other grants, and in 1968 became a co-founder of the Society of Black Composers in New York. Her works, ''Dirge and Deliverance'', and ''Songs from the Dark Tower'' were released by Performance Records in 1981. In 1985, the world premiere of her opera, ''
Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...
'', took place in New York City by
Opera Ebony Opera Ebony is an African-American opera company that has performed in a wide variety of programs and venues, ranging from Mozart in Harlem to African-American Heritage concerts in Iceland to Gershwin in Moscow to Duke Ellington in the Caribbean. ...
. Between 1988 and 1990, she sat on the music panel of the New York State Council of the Arts.


Awards

* Awards Lucy Moten Fellowship, 196

*
American Music Center New Music USA is a new music organization formed by the merging of the American Music Center with Meet The Composer on November 8, 2011. The new organization retains the granting programs of the two former organizations as well as two media progr ...
Grant, 1972 *
New York State Council on the Arts The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) serves to foster and advance the arts, culture, and creativity throughout New York State, according to its website. The goal of the council is to allow all New Yorkers to benefit from the contribution ...
Grant, 1985 *
Meet the Composer New Music USA is a new music organization formed by the merging of the American Music Center with Meet The Composer on November 8, 2011. The new organization retains the granting programs of the two former organizations as well as two media progr ...
grants Dorothy Rudd Moore is celebrated for her immense musicianship as a singer and multi-instrumentalist.


Works


Style

According to the American Composers Alliance, Moore's music is "admired for its high level of artistry and its seriousness of purpose." Her song ''A Little Whimsy'' (1982) was a response to critics who called her music too serious. Moore theorized that being a singer herself gave her insight into how to write well for voice. She did not consider herself a fast composer and preferred to have a finished product at a premier, unlike other composers who may return to rework their music. ''From the Dark Tower'' (1970) is a song cycle written for Hilda Harris, a mezzo-soprano of critical acclaim in opera. It was later recorded and released by Performance Records. There are eight songs set to poems by black writers including ''Dream Variation'' by
Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. An early innovator of jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harl ...
and the namesake of the cycle, ''From the Dark Tower,'' by
Countee Cullen Countee Cullen (born Countee LeRoy Porter; May 30, 1903 – January 9, 1946) was an American poet, novelist, children's writer, and playwright, particularly well known during the Harlem Renaissance. Early life Childhood Countee LeRoy Porter ...
. It is performed by voice, cello, and piano. Moore's only opera Frederick Douglass premiered on June 28, 1985 at City College of New York with Opera Ebony. The artistic director was Benjamin Matthews with conducting by Warren George Wilson, lighting by Ron Burns, and stage direction by Ward Fleming. Frederick Douglass and his wife were portrayed by James Butler and Hilda Harris. Tim Page called it "not so much an opera as a series of musical meditations on love, death, religion, political oppression and eventual deliverance."


Selected works

Moore has composed song cycles, chamber pieces, orchestral music, and an opera. Selected works include: *''Twelve Quatrains from the Rubaiyat'', song cycle, 1962 *''Symphony No. 1'', 1963 *''Three Pieces'' for violin and piano, 1967 *''Modes'' for string quartet, 1968 *''Lament for Nine Instruments'', 1969 *''Moods'' for viola and cello, 1969 *''Songs from the Dark Tower'', song cycle, 1970 *''Dirge and Deliverance'' for cello and piano, 1971 *''Dream and Variations'' for piano, 1974 *''Sonnets on Love, Rosebuds, and Death'' for soprano, violin, and piano, 1975 *''In Celebration'', a collage to poems by
Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. An early innovator of jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harl ...
, 1977 *''A Little Whimsy'', piano, 1982 *''
Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...
'', opera, 1985 *''Transcencion'', 1986


References


External links


Dorothy Rudd Moore
video interview
Sonnets on Love, Rosebuds, and Death
video performance

February 10, 1990 {{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Dorothy Rudd 1940 births Living people 20th-century American classical composers 20th-century American women composers American women classical composers American music educators American women music educators African-American classical composers African-American women classical composers African-American music educators Bronx Community College faculty Howard University alumni New York University faculty Musicians from Delaware People from New Castle, Delaware American women academics African-American women musicians 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American women American Conservatory alumni