Everett Astor Lee (August 31, 1916 – January 12, 2022) was an American symphonic conductor, opera music director, violinist and music scholar.
He was the first
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
to conduct a
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
musical, the first to "conduct an established symphony orchestra below the
Mason–Dixon line
The Mason–Dixon line, also called the Mason and Dixon line or Mason's and Dixon's line, is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (part of Virgini ...
", and the first to conduct a performance by a major American opera company.
[Cheatham, Wallace, ed. ''Dialogues on Opera and the African-American Experience.'' Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 1997.]["Yesterday in Negro History." ''Jet'', April 22, 1965. 11.]
Life and career
Lee was born in
Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contains a tiny portion extendin ...
, on August 31, 1916, to a middle-class family.
He moved with his parents to
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...
, Ohio, in 1927 as part of the
Great Migration. While working as a hotel busboy as a teenager, Lee met the conductor
Artur Rodziński
Artur Rodziński (2 January 1892 – 27 November 1958) was a Poles, Polish-Americans, American conducting, conductor of orchestral music and opera. He began his career after World War I in Second Polish Republic, Poland, where he was discovered by ...
, who became his mentor. He studied violin at the
Cleveland Institute of Music
The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) is a private music conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1920 by Ernest Bloch, it enrolls 325 students in the conservatory and approximately 1,500 students in the preparatory and continuing educa ...
, where he received a Ranney Scholarship. After graduation from the
Cleveland Institute of Music
The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) is a private music conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1920 by Ernest Bloch, it enrolls 325 students in the conservatory and approximately 1,500 students in the preparatory and continuing educa ...
Lee toured the south as a concert violinist and became well known. His concert career was interrupted by being called into military service. Lee was selected to be an aviation cadet at
Tuskegee Army Airfield, one of the air fields for the elite African American pilot squad known as the
Tuskegee Airmen
The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the United States Army ...
. In 1943, Lee was asked to join the orchestra of the
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
musical ''
Carmen Jones
''Carmen Jones'' is a 1943 Broadway musical with music by Georges Bizet (orchestrated for Broadway by Robert Russell Bennett) and lyrics and book by Oscar Hammerstein II which was performed at The Broadway Theatre. Conceptually, it is Bizet's o ...
'', an all-black contemporary retelling of
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, '' Carmen'', which has become ...
's opera ''
Carmen
''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the Opér ...
''. Lee played violin in the pit and performed the oboe onstage in one scene; he was one of only two African-American musicians in the orchestra.
When ''Carmen Joness conductor
Joseph Littau
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the m ...
fell ill, Lee "got his first break as an emergency
pinch hitter
In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, American ...
".
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...
saw a performance of ''Carmen Jones'' with Lee leading the orchestra and asked him to become the permanent conductor of his musical ''
On the Town''. When Lee joined the show in September 1945, he was celebrated for being the first African American to regularly conduct a Broadway musical.
[Pinkston, Antwon, and Paula Burba]
"Black History Month: 1953 Everett Lee"
''Louisville Courier-Journal
The ''Courier Journal'',
also known as the
''Louisville Courier Journal''
(and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017,
is the highest circulation newspape ...
'', February 1, 2010.
In 1946, Lee won a
Koussevitzky Music Foundation
Sergei Alexandrovich KoussevitzkyKoussevitzky's original Russian forename is usually transliterated into English as either "Sergei" or "Sergey"; however, he himself adopted the French spelling " Serge", using it in his signature. (SeThe Koussevi ...
Award to conduct at
Tanglewood
Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the ...
, and played first violin in the New York City Symphony, conducted by Bernstein. In 1947, he founded an interracial orchestra, the Cosmopolitan Symphony Society, made up of "Americans of Chinese, Russian, Jewish, Negro, Italian and Slavic origin", as well as women.
He served as director of
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...
's opera department in the early 1950s and traveled to Europe on a
Fulbright scholarship
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
. In 1953, Lee served as a guest conductor of the
Louisville Orchestra
The Louisville Orchestra is the primary orchestra in Louisville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1937 by Robert Whitney (1904–1986) and Charles Farnsley, Mayor of Louisville. The Louisville Orchestra employs salaried musicians, and offers a wide ...
, becoming the first African American to conduct a white symphony orchestra in the American South.
In 1955, he conducted an acclaimed
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived.
The opera company, du ...
production of ''
La traviata
''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on '' La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his o ...
'', becoming "the first Negro to conduct professional grand opera in the U.S."
Lee was met with undisguised racism throughout his career.
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and (usually uncredited) director in the musical theater for almost 40 years. He won eight ...
declined to hire Lee to conduct touring productions of his shows, explaining that Southern theaters would refuse to book them.
Concert manager
Arthur Judson
Arthur Leon Judson (February 17, 1881 – January 28, 1975) was an artists' manager who also managed the New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra and was also the founder of CBS. He co-founded the Handel Society of New York with entrepre ...
told Lee, "I don't believe in Negro symphony conductors."
Deciding that he would find better opportunities outside of America, Lee moved to Germany with his family in 1954. In 1962, he was appointed chief conductor of the
Norrköping Symphony Orchestra
The Norrköping Symphony Orchestra ( sv, Norrköpings Symfoniorkester) is a Swedish professional symphony orchestra. It is based at the concert hall De Geerhallen, in the center of Norrköping.
History
The orchestra was founded in 1912, an ...
in Sweden, a position he held for a decade.
Lee was a conductor at
Carnegie Hall in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
with the
Symphony of the New World
The Symphony of the New World was a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It was the first racially integrated orchestra in the United States. The Symphony gave its debut concert on 6 May 1965 at Carnegie Hall, conducted by Benjamin Steinb ...
and the
American Symphony Orchestra
The American Symphony Orchestra is a New York City, New York-based American orchestra founded in 1962 by Leopold Stokowski whose mission is to demystify orchestral music and make it accessible and affordable for all audiences. Leon Botstein is th ...
from 1969 to 1983. At one of his performances in 1983, he conducted
Opera Ebony and the
American Symphony Orchestra
The American Symphony Orchestra is a New York City, New York-based American orchestra founded in 1962 by Leopold Stokowski whose mission is to demystify orchestral music and make it accessible and affordable for all audiences. Leon Botstein is th ...
. The program included Lee conducting Joseph Bologne,
Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (25 December 1745 – 10 June 1799), was a French Creole virtuoso violinist and composer, who was conductor of the leading symphony orchestra in Paris.
Saint-Georges was born in the then-French colo ...
’ “Ernestine” opera excerpts,
William Grant Still’s “
Troubled Island
''Troubled Island'' is an American opera in three acts composed by William Grant Still, with a libretto begun by poet Langston Hughes and completed by Verna Arvey. She married the composer following their collaboration.
Set in Haiti in 1791, ...
” opera duet, Spiritual selections and other vocal and orchestral works. Featured soloists included, Benjamin Matthews, baritone (co-founder of
Opera Ebony), Joy Simpson, Alpha Floyd,
Joyce Mathis, sopranos and Michael Austin, tenor. Lee was a speaker on the program for the Tribute to
Sylvia Olden Lee
Sylvia Olden Lee (June 29, 1917 – April 10, 2004) was an American vocal coach and accompanist. She was the first African-American to be employed by the Metropolitan Opera. Her fields of expertise were European classical music and Negro spirit ...
, Master Musician and Teacher concert at
Carnegie Hall on June 29, 2017. In 1975, he debuted as Music Director of the
Symphony of the New World
The Symphony of the New World was a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It was the first racially integrated orchestra in the United States. The Symphony gave its debut concert on 6 May 1965 at Carnegie Hall, conducted by Benjamin Steinb ...
for a series of concerts in Washington, D.C. In 1976, he conducted the
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
for the first time; the concert was in honor of
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
's birthday and included a work by African-American composer
David Baker. In 1979, he became music director of the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra in Colombia. Lee conducted nearly 1,000 orchestral pieces, about 100 choral and operatic works and two Broadway works in the United States, Europe and South America.
Personal life and death
Lee married the accompanist and vocal coach
Sylvia Olden (1917–2004) in 1944. They had two children, the late Everett Lee, III and Dr. Eve Lee. They divorced and Lee later married opera singer Christin Andersson, in 1979. They had one son, opera singer Erik Andersson. At the time of his death, Lee lived in
Malmö
Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal popula ...
, Sweden, where he died on January 12, 2022, at the age of 105.
En maestro har gått ur tiden – ledde SON i tio år
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See also
* Black conductors
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Everett
1916 births
2022 deaths
20th-century African-American musicians
20th-century American conductors (music)
20th-century American male musicians
20th-century classical musicians
21st-century African-American musicians
21st-century American conductors (music)
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century classical musicians
African-American centenarians
African-American classical musicians
African-American conductors (music)
American centenarians
American expatriates in Sweden
American male conductors (music)
Columbia University School of the Arts alumni
Men centenarians
Military personnel from Wheeling, West Virginia
Musicians from Cleveland
Musicians from Wheeling, West Virginia
Music directors (opera)
Fulbright alumni