John Thomas Douglass
Encyclopedia
John Thomas Douglass was an accomplished American violin
ist who composed Virginia's Ball, which is the first known opera written by an African American, copyrighted in 1868. It was performed at least once, but is now lost. Virginia's Ball was a three act opera, premiered in 1868 in New York, at the Stuyvesant Institute on Broadway
.
Douglass probably studied in Europe, but settled in New York, and began performing widely in the 1870s. In addition to touring as a concert violinist, he also worked with a string ensemble and various minstrel companies, including the Hyers Sisters
and the Georgia Minstrels.
Douglass also managed a teaching studio, where he met David Mannes
, later of the New York Symphony Orchestra
, who founded a music school for African American students in New York.
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist who composed Virginia's Ball, which is the first known opera written by an African American, copyrighted in 1868. It was performed at least once, but is now lost. Virginia's Ball was a three act opera, premiered in 1868 in New York, at the Stuyvesant Institute on Broadway
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
.
Douglass probably studied in Europe, but settled in New York, and began performing widely in the 1870s. In addition to touring as a concert violinist, he also worked with a string ensemble and various minstrel companies, including the Hyers Sisters
Hyers Sisters
With Joseph Bradford and Pauline Hopkins, the Hyers Sisters produced the "first full-fledged musical plays... in which African Americans themselves comment on the plight of the slaves and the relief of Emancipation without the disguises of minstrel comedy", the first of which was Out of Bondage...
and the Georgia Minstrels.
Douglass also managed a teaching studio, where he met David Mannes
David Mannes
David Mannes was an American violinist, conductor, and educator.Mannes studied in Berlin with Karol Haliř and was a violinist in the New York Symphony Orchestra from 1891 and its concertmaster from 1898 to 1912. In 1912 he helped found the Colored Music Settlement School and in 1916, with his...
, later of the New York Symphony Orchestra
New York Symphony Orchestra
The New York Symphony Orchestra was founded as the New York Symphony Society in New York City by Leopold Damrosch in 1878. For many years it was a fierce rival to the older Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York. It was supported by Andrew Carnegie who built Carnegie Hall expressly for the...
, who founded a music school for African American students in New York.