Edited by Jessie Carney Smith, P. 277)
Dominique-René de Lerma:
ANTOINETTE HANDY-MILLER, flutist and administrator
We
were blessed by the life of Dorothy Antoinette Handy (1930-2002). She
was born in New Orleans into a distinguished family. Her great-great
grandfather was Emmanuel Handy, a Mississippi legislator in the days
following the Civil War. Her father was Rev. William Talbot Handy, Sr.,
who had a career of almost 60 years as community leader in New
Orleans. Her mother, Dorothy Pauline Pleasant Handy (also from
Hazelhurt MS), saw to it that her children were studying violin and
piano by the time they were six -- and Antoinette's sister, Dr. Geneva
Handy Southall, became a notable pianist, author of a three-volume set
on Blind Tom, and head of Black studies at the University of Minnesota.
While
in her last two years of high school, Antoinette played with the New
Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra. She began her university studies at
Spelman College (meeting Calvin Montgomery Miller, a student at
Morehouse College, then husband in 1959) earning her B.M. degree from
the New England Conservatory in 1952 as a flute major, with a master's
degree from Northwestern the following year, during which time she was a
member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra. In 1954 joined the Orchestre
International in Paris, receiving an artist's diploma from the
Conservatoire in 1955. The next year she was in Geneva's Music Viva
Orchestra and undertook a tour in Germany as flutist within a trio,
sponsored by the United States Information Office. Returning to the
United States in 1956, she was engaged first as a travel agent and then,
a union member, she was affiliated with Toscanini's Symphony of the Air
conducted by Leonard Bernstein, the Orchestra of America (1960-1962),
the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra, and the Richmond Symphony
(1966-1976), during which period she wrote for the Afro-American, presented three programs at the Smithsonian Institution, and was commentator on Richmond radio. From 1968 to
1971, she was in New York, a member of the Symphony of the New World.
She also appeared in California with the Bach Festival Orchestra in
Carmel. She dedicated much of her time then to the Trio Pro Viva, an
ensemble with piano and cello, whose membership varied, but which was
dedicated to the performance of works by Black composers.
I
met Antoinette when she attended the week-long symposium we held in
Baltimore in 1972 (she was soloist with the Baltimore Symphony in a
concert Paul Freeman conducted at Goucher College). I remember quite
well when she phoned me in 1984 to let me know she had been appointed
assistant director of the music program at the National Endowment for
the Arts, and then the program's director in 1990. This was a
significant step in providing focus on Black music and musicians.
Although her previous attention had been mainly directed to classical
music, she founded NEA's National Jazz Service Organization and National
Jazz Network, retiring in 1993.
Like her sister, she was also dedicated to the documentation of women in music, as shown in her publications: Black women in American bands and orchestras (1998), The International Sweethearts of Rhythm (1983); jazz man's journey; a biography of Louis Ellis Marsalis, Jr.(1999), and Black conductors (1995).
She
held various teaching positions: Florida A&M University for one
semester, New York College of Music (1956-1957), Metropolitan Music
School (1956-1963), Harlem YMCA (1957-1959), and even as music therapist
at the Alfred Alder Mental Hygiene Clinic and Music Rehabilitation
Center. With the arrival of the Civil Rights Movement, she and her
husband joined the faculty at the Tuskegee Institute (1963-1964), then
Jackson State University (1964-1966), Virginia State (1966-1971), and
Southern University (1966). She was also artist-in-residence for the
school system in Richmond from 1978-1980. As a Ford Foundation Fellow
in 1971, she was engaged in research in Durham and Chapel Hill NC,
publishing the results in Black music; Opinions and reviews in
1974 and various journals. She then returned to Virginia State,
directing the Office of Education's Special Student Services.
She
was named an outstanding graduate of Northwestern University in 1992
and awarded an honorary doctorate by the Cleveland Institute of Music in
1993. The National Association of Negro Musicians presented her with
their Distinguished Service to Music Award, with other awards and
citations coming from the National Black Music Caucus, the National
Endowment for the Arts. She was even featured on the 1994 Aetna Life
Insurance calendar.
She died of liver cancer, survived by her husband, political science Professor Calvin Miller, and three children.
The
Trio Pro Viva included in its repertoire the E-flat trio sonata (after
the sonata for flute and harp) by Saint-Georges, performed both in
Petersburg VA and with Geneva Southall and Anthony Elliott in
Minneapolis. The trio had issued an LP, containing music by Undine
Smith Moore and others, several on her impetus. Her solo album of 2
LPs, Black images for the flute, was issued on Eastern ERS-513.
A flutist also of historical and musical significance was Harold Jones, whose career will be posted on the necrology for 2015.
Jazz figures who doubled on flute include:
Adams, George Rufus, 1940-1992
Carver, Wayman, 1905-1967
Caymmi, Danilo Candido Tostes, 1948-
Coltrane, John, 1926-1967
Dolphy, Eric, 1928-1964
Fortune, Sonny, 1939-
Hancock, Herbie, 1940-
Humphrey, Bobbi, 1950-
Jaspar, Bobby, 1926-1963
Kirk, Rasaan Roland, 1935-1977
Lateef, Jusef, 1920-2013
Laws, Hubert, 1939-
Lloyd, Charles, 1938-
Rivers, Sam, 1923-2011
Sanders, Pharoah, 1940-
Sihab, Shihab, 1925-1989
Wess, Frank, 1922-2013
------------------------------------
Dominique-René de Lerma
http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com
Comments by email:
Comments by email:
1) Hi, Interesting.... also interesting list of flute players but one gap! See http://www.cubanflute.com/records.htm
Danilo
Lozano, an incredible Cuban born virtuoso flutist who straddled the
jazz/latin/classical boundaries. The late Ed Bland introduced me to him
after producing ‘Dancing Through the Walls’. Incredible technique and
musicality! Mike [Michael S. Wright]
2) Forthcoming: Very expansive register of all concert instrumentalists. First draft will be ready this week.Dominique-René de Lerma
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