Roland Marvin Carter (born May 4, 1942) is an American composer and conductor, largely of choral music. A native of

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

, Carter studied music education at

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association af ...

, from which he received a BA, and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, from which he received his MA; he studied piano, choral music, and composition. From 1965 until 1989 he taught music at Hampton University, chairing the department of music and leading the choir. In 1989 he moved to the

University of Tennessee, Chattanooga The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UT-Chattanooga, UTC, or Chattanooga) is a public university in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1886 and is one of four universities and two other affiliated institutions in the ...

, where he directed the choir and continued to teach until his 2013 retirement. Carter is best known for his work as composer, conductor, arranger, and publisher to promote the choral music of

African-American composers African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...

. He served as president of the

National Association of Negro Musicians The National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc. is one of the oldest organizations in the United States dedicated to the preservation, encouragement, and advocacy of all genres of the music of African-Americans. NANM had its beginning on May 3, ...

from 2003 until 2009, and publishes choral music, especially arrangements of

spirituals Spirituals (also known as Negro spirituals, African American spirituals, Black spirituals, or spiritual music) is a genre of Christian music that is associated with Black Americans, which merged sub-Saharan African cultural heritage with the e ...

, through his publishing company MAR-VEL; as a composer, he has created numerous spiritual arrangements himself, as well as composing new choral compositions on a variety of texts. At

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

he conducted the first concert in the African-American Music Series. Much of his output has been recorded. As a conductor, Carter has said that he believes in performing spiritual arrangements much as he would the work of

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

, rather than bringing a more folk-based sensibility to them. Carter has received numerous awards throughout his career, including an honorary doctorate from

Shaw University Shaw University is a private Baptist historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw University is the oldest HBCU to begin offering courses in ...

and an honorary membership in

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America (colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Mu Alpha, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music. The fraternity is open to men "w ...

, granted in 2006. In 2022 the city of Chattanooga named a street for him. Carter donated his archive to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Roland 1942 births Living people 20th-century American composers 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century American composers 21st-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians African-American classical composers American classical composers African-American conductors (music) American choral conductors 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers American male classical composers American male conductors (music) Musicians from Chattanooga, Tennessee Classical musicians from Tennessee Hampton University alumni New York University alumni Hampton University faculty University of Tennessee at Chattanooga faculty