Adolphus Hailstork

From Philosopedia.org

Hailstork, Adolphus (17 April 1941 - )

An African American who was raised an Episcopalian, Hailstork became a Unitarian and is a composer who teaches at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

He was born in Rochester, New York, studied at Howard University (B. Mus., 1963) and Manhattan School of Music (B. Mus. in Composition, 1965 and M. Mus. in Composition, 1966). After a tour of duty with the U. S. Armed Forces in Germany (1966 - 1968), he received his doctorate at Michigan State University in 1971.

David Lockington, associate conductor of the Baltimore Symphony, has said of a recent Hailsork composition he was preparing to perform that it is a “drawing together of African traditions with his very strong Eurocentric musical training. There’s a wonderful blend going on.”

Hailstork agreed, saying, “From the European thing I get harmony, orchestration, structure; from the African American side of me, some harmony—the split thirds, blues scales, melody, and rhythm! If multiculturalism is the thing, a lot of it meets in me.”

{David Reich, “Crossover Composer,” World, November-December 1994}