Rudolph Dunbar

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Rudolph Dunbar (1907 – June 10, 1988) was a Guyanese conductor, clarinetist, and composer.

Dunbar was born in Nabaclis, British Guyana. He studied at the Institute of Musical Art (now Juilliard). While in New York he was also involved with the Harlem jazz scene. In 1925 Dunbar moved to Paris where he studied conducting with Philippe Gaubert, composition with Paul Vidal, and the clarinet with Louis Cahuzac. He published Treatise on the Clarinet in 1939 which became a standard text about the instrument.

Dunbar became the first black man to conduct the London Philharmonic in 1942 at a concert in the Royal Albert Hall, London. In September 1945 he conducted the Berlin Philharmonic at the invitation of music director Leo Borchard, performing William Grant Still's Afro-American Symphony before Allied servicemen.[1] He also conducted orchestras in Russia and Poland. He championed the music of other black composers, particularly Still. Dunbar had played alongside Still in the Harlem Orchestra around 1924,[2] and the autograph of Still's Festive Overture of 1944 is dedicated "To my dear friend, Rudolph Dunbar".[2] He lived most of his later life in London, which is where he died.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Monod, David (2005). Settling Scores: German Music, Denazification, & the Americans, 1945-1953. University of North Carolina Press, 120. ISBN 0807829447. 
  2. ^ a b Dabrishus, Michael J.; Carolyn L. Quin, Judith Anne Still (1996). William Grant Still: a bio-bibliography. Greenwood Press, 36. ISBN 0313252556. .

[edit] Writings

  • Dunbar, Rudolph (1939). Treatise on the clarinet (Boehm system). London: J. E. Dallas. OCLC 2322942. 

[edit] External links