Thomas Henderson Kerr Jr.

Thomas Henderson Kerr Jr. (January 3, 1915 – August 26, 1988) was an American classical pianist, organist, music teacher, and composer whose compositions and arrangements for piano, organ, voice, woodwind ensemble, and chorus were performed by some of the leading African American artists of his time including pianists Sylvia Olden Lee, Natalie Hinderas, William Duncan Allen Jr., and the duo-piano team, Delphin & Romain. His arrangements of Negro Spirituals have been performed and recorded by notable artists including Kathleen Battle and Jessye Norman. Kerr was Professor of Music and Chair of the keyboard department at Howard University from 1943 – 1976. He served as the organist of the Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, DC. As a pianist, he performed widely in the area and was the first African American to perform a recital at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Early life and education Thomas Kerr Jr. was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1915 and died in 1988. He was one of three children born to Geneva Lyles and Thomas Henderson Kerr Sr. His father graduated from the pharmacy school at Howard University in 1912. He later owned a pharmacy in Ba