Lailah McCuiston, Alannah Ross
Harry T. Burleigh
Harry T. Burleigh was born December 2, 1866, in Erie, Pennsylvania. Burleigh is known for being the first African American composer who was praised for his work and his alterations of negro spirituals. He was said to have learned most of his musical talents at a young age from his mother and his grandfather, which is where he also learned the spirituals that he mimicked. During his time as a composer, he wrote over 200 songs that were considered to be based and written as spirituals. One of his more popular pieces of work is the song Deep River where he sings with a very rich bass-baritone voice.
Rosetta Tharpe
Sister Rosetta Tharpe, born Rosetta Nabin in Arkansas, is also known as the godmother of rock n’ roll and was a pioneer to the genre. Tharpe grew up in a family of religious singers and around the mid 1920’s she started performing spiritual music with her mother in Chicago. Also a talented guitarist she was ahead of her time because in the mid 1930’s female guitarist were really unheard of, that paired with her unique voice and profane themes she fused together gospel and rock n’ roll that pioneered a new style.
Paul Robeson
