Julia Amanda Perry (25 March 1924 – 12 October 1979) was an American classical composer and teacher who combined European classical and neo-classical training with her African-American heritage.
Born in Lexington, Kentucky, Perry studied voice, piano and composition at the Westminster Choir College 1943–48 and came to prominence as a result of a scholarship to the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood, where she was a student of Luigi Dallapiccola. This led her to win the Guggenheim Fellowship, which she used to go to Florence, Italy and continue her studies with Dallapiccola.
Perry also studied under Nadia Boulanger in 1954 and was awarded the Boulanger Grand Prix for her Viola Sonata. In the same year, Perry was awarded a second Guggenheim Fellowship, with which she returned to Italy and continued studying with Dallapiccola.
Perry also studied conducting at the Accademia Chigiana of Siena during the summers of 1956 and 1957, and in 1957 was sponsored by the U.S. Information Service to conduct a series of concerts in Europe.
After a total of five and a half years in Europe, Julia Perry returned to America and continued her work in composition. On return she also took up teaching at Tallahassee's Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1967 and was also a visiting artist at Atlanta College.
Julia Perry
Biography
Julia Amanda Perry (25 March 1924 – 12 October 1979) was an American classical composer and teacher who combined European classical and neo-classical training with her African-American heritage.
Born in Lexington, Kentucky, Perry studied voice, piano and composition at the Westminster Choir College 1943–48 and came to prominence as a result of a scholarship to the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood, where she was a student of Luigi Dallapiccola. This led her to win the Guggenheim Fellowship, which she used to go to Florence, Italy and continue her studies with Dallapiccola.
Perry also studied under Nadia Boulanger in 1954 and was awarded the Boulanger Grand Prix for her Viola Sonata. In the same year, Perry was awarded a second Guggenheim Fellowship, with which she returned to Italy and continued studying with Dallapiccola.
Perry also studied conducting at the Accademia Chigiana of Siena during the summers of 1956 and 1957, and in 1957 was sponsored by the U.S. Information Service to conduct a series of concerts in Europe.
After a total of five and a half years in Europe, Julia Perry returned to America and continued her work in composition. On return she also took up teaching at Tallahassee's Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1967 and was also a visiting artist at Atlanta College.
(from wikipedia.org)