He was among the first African American composers during the early years of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. His works often appeared among the programs of William Marion Cook's New York syncopated Orchestra. Dett himself performed at Carnegie Hall and at the Boston Symphony Hall as a pianist and choir director.[2]
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Dett was born in Drummondville, Ontario (now part of Niagara Falls, Ontario) where he studied piano at an early age showing initial interest at age three and formal piano lessons at age five. He was the son of Charlotte Washington Dett and Robert T. Dett; his mother was a native of Drummondville while his father was from the United States. As a child, his mother encouraged him to memorize passages of Shakespeare, Longfellow and Tennyson. In 1893, the family moved to Niagara Falls, New York. At about age fourteen, he had played piano for his local church. He continued his Lockport, New York studies at the Oliver Willis Halstead Conservatory of Music from 1901 to 1903.[3]
He then continued his piano studies at the Lockport Conservatory, matriculating to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. It was at Oberlin when he was first explored to the idea of using spirituals in classical style music; he was exposed to the music of Antonín Dvořák which was immediately reminiscent of the spirituals he had heard from his grandmother. He was the first black student to complete the five-year course at Oberlin. He then toured as a concert pianist and during this period he wrote only rudimentary piano compositions. He then came under the influence of E. Azalia Hackley, soprano, who inspired his interest in black American folk music.
In 1908, he completed his degree, a Bachelor of Music with a major in composition and piano. Within that year, he became a professor at Tennessee's Lane College followed by a tenure at the Lincoln Institute in Jefferson City, Missouri uRobert Nathaniel Dett - pedia, the free encyclopediav s Hot xRobert Nathaniel Dett - pedia, the free encyclopediap d r r Dvds Dvds Hentai Porn