Ulysses Kay

Ulysses Simpson Kay ( January 7, 1917 in Tucson / Arizona; † 20 May 1995 Englewood / New Jersey ) was an American composer of African-American origin.

Kay learned in his school days at the suggestion of his uncle, jazz cornetist Joe King Oliver to play at William A. Ferguson piano, violin and saxophone in addition also. During his high school years he played in a marching band, sang in a glee club and played saxophone in jazz bands.

Until 1938 he studied at the Music School of the University of Arizona piano with Julia Rebeil and music theory with John L. Lowell. He then studied at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester composition with Bernard Rogers and Howard Hanson and learned the singer Irma Allen, Raymond Morris, Kenneth Spencer and William Warfield, the composer Mark Fax and Thomas Kerr and jazz musician Jimmy Rushing know. In 1941, he met at the Berkshire Music Center Paul Hindemith, with whom he studied at Yale University until 1942.

Until 1946, Kay was a member of the U.S. Navy in Quonset Point, Rhode Iceland, stationed, where he played in the Navy Band flute, saxophone and piccolo. In 1947 he studied with Otto Luening at Columbia University, from 1949 at the American Academy in Rome. From 1953 to 1968 he was a member of BMI. In 1958, he toured as a member of the American delegation as part of a cultural exchange, the Soviet Union.

1965 Kay was a visiting professor at Boston University, 1966-67 he was a visiting professor at the University of California. In 1968 he was appointed the Herbert H. Lehman College of the City University of New York Distinguished Professor of Music; he held until 1988 this position.

Kay wrote about 140 works, including five operas, orchestral works, vocal and chamber music, piano and organ pieces, songs and film scores.

Works

  • Danse Calinda, Ballet, 1941
  • Four Pieces for Male Chorus, 1941
  • Overture, 1944
  • Suite for Orchestra, 1945
  • Letter Elegy for oboe and string orchestra, 1946
  • Four Inventions for Piano, 1946
  • A Short Overture, 1946
  • Suite for Strings, 1947
  • The Boor, opera, 1955
  • The Juggler of Our Lady, opera, 1956
  • String Quartet no 2, 1956
  • String Quartet no 3, 1961
  • Fantasy Variations for Orchestra, 1963
  • Umbrian Scene for Orchestra, 1963
  • Two Dunbar Lyrics for mixed choir, 1965
  • Markings for orchestra, 1966
  • The Birds for female chorus, 1966
  • The Capitoline Venus, opera, 1969
  • Jubilee, Opera, 1974-76
  • Frederick Douglass, Opera, 1979-85

Swell

  • AfriClassical.com - Ulysses Simpson Kay, Jr. (1917-1995)
  • African American Registry - Ulysses Kay - one of Arizona 's finest
  • Answers.com - Ulysses Kay
  • Encyclopedia Britannica - Ulysses Kay
  • American composer
  • Born 1917
  • Died in 1995
  • Man
791333
de