Edmund Jenkins

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Edmund Jenkins (April 9, 1894 – 1926) was an African American composer during the Harlem Renaissance. Jenkins began as a musician playing in the all band of his father's orphanage. He went to England with the band in 1914 and remained there after the band returned. He spent the rest of his life abroad, but studied at the then Atlanta Baptist College with Kemper Harreld and later at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

A Holstein prize was awarded for his piece, African War Dance and also for his Sonata in A minor for violoncello, in 1925. In 1926 Belgium, his work Carlestonia, a rhapsody for orchestra—noted for its "Negro" themes—was performed. In London, Negro Symphony was then performed. His successful career was cut short by an early death.

[edit] References

The Music of Black Americans: A History. Eileen Southern. W. W. Norton & Company; 3rd edition. ISBN 0-393-97141-4