Abstract
European classical music in its many forms is an art that is not lost on Americans of African descent. Synched with traditional African rhythms and Christian hymns, work songs and spirituals are reflected in the cultural expressions of Africans, enslaved and free. In fact, as early as June 1868 the opera Ernani, a Verdi composition, was performed by the "pupils of the colored public school of Allegheny City" on the occasion of the Emancipation Tableau Vivant," a commemoration of the emancipation of slavery. This may very well have been the first African American performance of classical music in greater Pittsburgh. However, we do know that African Americans such as Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield of the Fisk Jubilee Singers and soprano Sissieretta Jones performed worldwide as classical vocalists during the 19th century. Not as popular as other forms of African American musical expression, European classical music such as opera, symphonic, virtuosi, and other forms have been performed by African Americans for quite some time.
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