Julia Perry

Julia Amanda Perry (March 25, 1924 – April 24, 1979) was an American classical composer and teacher who combined European classical and neo-classical training with her African-American heritage. Life and education Born in Lexington, Kentucky, on March 25, 1924, Julia Perry moved with her family while still a child to Akron, Ohio. She studied voice, piano, and composition at Westminster Choir College from 1943 to 1948, earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music. For her thesis she wrote a secular cantata titled Chicago. In 1952, Perry began studying under Nadia Boulanger in Paris and was awarded the Boulanger Grand Prix for her Viola Sonata. Perry also studied conducting at the Accademia Chigiana in 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 five and a half years in Europe, Perry returned to the US and continued her work in composition. She took up teaching at Tallahassee’s Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1967 and was also a visiting artist at Atlanta College. In 1964 her three-act opera-ballet The Selfish Giant won an American Academy of Arts and Lette