Ulysses Simpson Kay (January 7, 1917 in Tucson, Arizona – May 20, 1995 in Englewood, New Jersey) was an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. His music is mostly neoclassical in style.

Life and career

Kay, the nephew of the classic jazz musician King Oliver, studied piano, violin and saxophone.De Lerma, Dominique-Rene
"African Heritage Symphonic Series"
Liner note essay. Cedille Records CDR061. He attended the University of Arizona, where he was encouraged by the African-American composer William Grant Still. He went for graduate work to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and there worked under Howard Hanson and

Bernard Rogers Bernard Rogers (4 February 1893 – 24 May 1968) was an American composer. His best known work is ''The Passion'', an oratorio written in 1942. Life and career Rogers was born in New York City. He studied with Arthur Farwell, Ernest Bloc ...

. Ulysses Kay met the eminent neoclassical composer Paul Hindemith in the summer of 1941 at the

Berkshire Music Center The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops. The center operates as a part of the Tanglew ...

and followed Hindemith to Yale for a formative year of study from 1941 to 1942. After a stint as a musician in the United States Navy during World War II, Kay studied at Columbia University under Otto Luening with the assistance of a grant from the Julius Rosenwald Fund. In addition to this prize, Kay received a series of five other significant awards in the year following his discharge from the Navy including the Alice M. Ditson Fellowship, a grant from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, an award from the American Composers and American Broadcasting Company, a $500 award from the third annual George Gershwin Memorial Contest for "A Short Overture," and a $700 award from the American Composers Alliance for his "Suite for Orchestra." Following this successful period, he lived and studied further in Rome from 1949 to 1953 thanks to a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

, the Rome Prize and a Julius Rosenwald Fellowship. Kay worked for Broadcast Music, Inc., a music performance rights organization, from 1953 to 1968. In 1968 he was appointed distinguished professor at

Lehman College Lehman College is a public college in the Bronx borough of New York City. Founded in 1931 as the Bronx campus of Hunter College, the school became an independent college within CUNY in September 1967. The college is named after Herbert H. Lehma ...

of the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

. After two decades teaching there, he retired. As a composer Kay was known primarily for his symphonic and choral compositions. He also wrote five operas. His final opera, '' Frederick Douglass'', was mounted in April 1991 at the New Jersey State Opera with

Kevin Maynor Kevin Maynor is an American opera singer. In 1985, Maynor made his debut with the New York City Opera. Maynor has sung with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Scottish Opera, the Opera National du Rhin, Opera Company of Boston, Florida Grand Opera, ...

in the title role and

Klara Barlow Klara Barlow (July 28, 1928 in New York City, New York – January 20, 2008 in New York City, New York) was an American opera singer who had an active international career from the mid-1960s to the 1990s. A dramatic soprano, Barlow particularly ...

as Helen Pitts Douglass. A resident of Teaneck, New Jersey, Ulysses Kay died due to complications of Parkinson's disease at the age of 78 at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center on May 20, 1995.Sullivan, Ronald
"Ulysses Kay, Prolific Composer And Educator, Is Dead at 78"
'' The New York Times'', May 23, 1995. Accessed September 21, 2011. "Ulysses Kay, a professor of music and a prolific composer of five operas, 20 large orchestral works and scores of choral, chamber and film compositions, died on Saturday in Englewood Hospital in Englewood, N.J. He was 78 and lived in Teaneck, N.J. The cause was Parkinson's disease, his family said."

Operas

* '' The Juggler of Our Lady'' (composed 1956, premiered 1962) * ''

The Boor ''The Boor'' is an opera in one act composed by Ulysses Kay to a libretto based on Anton Chekhov's comic play, '' The Bear'' (also known as ''The Boor''). Kay wrote the libretto himself basing it on an English translation of the play by the compo ...

'' (composed 1955, premiered 1968) * '' The Capitoline Venus'' (composed 1969, premiered 1971) * '' Jubilee'' (composed 1974–1976, premiered 1976) * '' Frederick Douglass'' (composed 1979–85, premiered 1991)

Sources

*Program notes by Dominique-René de Lerma for the African Heritage Symphonic Series Volume II (Cedille Records CDR 90000 061)

References

External links

Center for Black Music Research
July 20, 1985. Also translated into Japanese an
postedFinding aid to Ulysses Kay papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Ulysses 1917 births 1995 deaths 20th-century African-American musicians 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century classical composers African-American classical composers American classical composers African-American male classical composers African-American opera composers Entertainers from Teaneck, New Jersey Musicians from Tucson, Arizona Columbia University alumni University of Arizona alumni Eastman School of Music alumni Neurological disease deaths in New Jersey Deaths from Parkinson's disease Pupils of Paul Hindemith Pupils of Bernard Rogers American male classical composers Male opera composers Classical musicians from Arizona Tucson High School alumni Fulbright alumni