Hazel Harrison (May 12, 1883 – April 29, 1969) was an American concert pianist. She was the first fully American-trained musician to appear with a European orchestra. Harrison was born in

La Porte, Indiana La Porte (French for "The Door") is a city in LaPorte County, Indiana, United States, of which it is the county seat. Its population was estimated to be 21,341 in 2022. It is one of the two principal cities of the Michigan City-La Porte, India ...

, and spent most of her childhood home schooled; but she attended La Porte High School, and graduated. She began private piano training as a child of four or five years old with Richard Warren Pellow, an English organist at the First Presbyterian Church who taught music in the local public schools. In high school she began studies under German musician Victor Heinze, eventually commuting between La Porte and Chicago to continue lessons with him. She spent most of her time in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

performing recitals and performing with the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. History The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...

. She became the first Black woman, and most likely the first Black musician, to perform as a solo instrumentalist with the Berlin Philharmonic when she made her debut with them in 1904, playing Chopin's Piano Concerto in E Minor and

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

's Piano Concerto in A Minor. Harrison later returned to the United States, and while performing in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

received sponsorship to travel back to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. During the next several years, she continued her studies with in

. Van Dalan arranged for Harrison to have an audition with Italian composer and pianist Ferruccio Busoni; after hearing her, Busoni, who had previously refused to accept more students, decided to oversee her training. She then began performing as a concert pianist both in Europe and the U.S., eluding much recognition in the U.S. in spite of the fact that she was lauded in the Black press. In 1931, Harrison accepted a job as the head of the piano department at the

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...

in Alabama.

Ralph Ellison Ralph Waldo Ellison (March 1, 1913 – April 16, 1994) was an American writer, literary critic, and scholar best known for his novel ''Invisible Man'', which won the National Book Award in 1953. He also wrote ''Shadow and Act'' (1964), a collecti ...

took a comment by Harrison as the starting point for one of his essays, ''The Little Man at Chehaw Station.'' (Chehaw was the station on the

Western Railway of Alabama The Western Railway of Alabama (WRA) also seen as "WofA" was created as the Western Railroad of Alabama by the owners of the Montgomery & West Point Railroad (M&WP) in 1860. It was built to further the M&WP's development West from Montgomery, Ala ...

, that served the Tuskegee area.) In 1936 she moved to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and accepted a teaching job at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

, where she remained until retirement in 1955. While teaching, Harrison still performed in the United States, and after retirement she accepted positions at

Alabama A&M University Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (Alabama A&M) is a public historically black land-grant university in Normal, Huntsville, Alabama. Founded in 1875, it took its present name in 1969. AAMU is a member-school of the Thurgood Marsh ...

and

Jackson College Jackson College is a public college in Jackson County, Michigan. Originally established as Jackson Junior College in 1928, Jackson County electors voted to reincorporate the institution as a community college district under the "Public Act 188 ...

References

External links

Hazel Harrison: The African-American Registry

1883 births 1969 deaths African-American pianists 20th-century American educators American expatriates in Germany Howard University faculty People from La Porte, Indiana Musicians from Washington, D.C. Place of birth missing 20th-century American women pianists 20th-century American pianists American women academics African-American women musicians 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American musicians {{US-pianist-stub

References

Further reading

External links