THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF NEGRO MUSICIANS, INC.
| Founded in Chicago in 1919,
the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc. is the country’s
oldest organization dedicated to the preservation, encouragement and
advocacy of all genres of the music of African Americans. In A
Documentary History of the National Association of Negro Musicians
(2004, Center for Black Music Research), Dr. Doris Evans McGinty
(1924-2005) cites in "The Significance of NANM" (p. 54) how the
benefits of membership in the organization have remained constant during
its almost nine-decade existence:
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NANM, Inc., since its inception, has provided encouragement and support to thousands of African American musicians, many of whom have become widely respected figures in music and have contributed significantly to American culture and music history. The organization has awarded scholarships to scores of talented young musicians throughout the country. A list of them would include such luminaries as Marian Anderson (first scholarship award recipient in 1919), William L. Dawson, Florence B. Price, Margaret Bonds, Warren George Wilson, James Frazier, Julia Perry, Grace Bumbry, Leon Bates, Joseph Joubert, Awadagin Pratt, and many, many others. Over the years, many international personalities have been presented in performances, including Lena Horne, Todd Duncan, John W. Work, R. Nathaniel Dett, Marian Anderson, Edward Boatner, Camille Nickerson, Clarence Cameron White, Margaret Bonds, Florence B. Price, Etta Moten, Betty Allen, Natalie Hinderas, Adele Addison, Kermit Moore, Simon Estes, George Shirley, Robert McFerrin, Shirley Verrett, Jessye Norman, Sanford Allen, Derek Lee Ragin, the Uptown String Quartet, Esther Hinds, Ruby Hinds, Wilhelmina Fernandez, the Hinds Sisters, William Warfield, Benjamin Matthews, the Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers, Harolyn Blackwell, Billy Taylor, Delphin and Romain, Gregory Hopkins, and Martina Arroyo. Noted clinicians have included Carl Diton, Warner Lawson, Frederick Hall, Kemper Harreld, Wendell Whalum, Eileen Southern, Doris McGinty, Alain Locke, Grace Bumbry, Sylvia Olden Lee, James Cleveland, Raoul Abdul, Geneva Handy Southall, Sowah Mensah, Robert Ray, Willis Patterson, Roland Carter, Brazeal Dennard, Robert Harris, Shirley Verrett, and many other musicians, educators, scholars, and lovers of music who constitute the musical fabric of the organization. These include NANM’s Junior and Youth divisions, and Collegiate Branches, comprised of young artists and scholars from all over the country. These young people participate in workshops and are presented in performances throughout each annual meeting week. PURPOSE
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