List of African-American women in classical music

This is a list of African-American women in classical music. African-American women who are notable in various fields of classical music are listed here.

Composers

 * Margaret_Bonds.jpg.]]Lettie Alston (born 1953), composer
 * Regina Harris Baiocchi (born 1956), composer, writer and educator
 * Margaret Bonds (1913–1972), composer and pianist
 * Valerie Coleman, composer and flutist
 * Shirley Graham Du Bois (1896–1977), composer, author and activist
 * Helen Eugenia Hagan (1891–1964), composer and pianist
 * Nora Holt (1884–1974), composer, singer and music critic
 * Betty Jackson King (1928–1994), composer, singer, pianist and educator
 * Cynthia Cozette Lee (born 1953), composer and librettist
 * Tania León (born 1943), composer and educator
 * Lena McLin (born 1928), composer, author, pastor and educator
 * Jessie Montgomery (born 1982), composer and chamber musician
 * Dorothy Rudd Moore (born 1940), composer and educator
 * Undine Smith Moore (1904–1989), composer, pianist and educator
 * Joyce Solomon Moorman (born 1946), composer and educator
 * Nkeiru Okoye (born 1972), composer
 * Julia Perry (1924–1979), composer and educator
 * Zenobia Powell Perry (1908–2004), composer, activist and educator
 * Evelyn La Rue Pittman (1910–1992), composer
 * Rosephanye Powell (born 1962), composer, singer and academic
 * Florence Price (1887–1953), composer, pianist and educator
 * Irene Britton Smith (1907–1999), composer and educator

Conductors

 * Kalena Bovell, African-American and Hispanic conductor
 * Eva Jessye (1895–1992), choral conductor, composer and educator
 * Nina Gamble Kennedy (born 1960), conductor, filmmaker, pianist and writer
 * Marsha Mabrey (born 1949), conductor, educator and violinist
 * Kay George Roberts (born 1950), conductor and educator

Educators

 * Harriet Gibbs Marshall (1868–1941), educator, writer and creator of the Washington Conservatory of Music and School of Expression
 * Rebecca Walker Steele (1925–2019), educator, singer and choir director

Instrumentalists

 * Velvet Brown, tuba player and educator
 * Ezinma (born 1991), violinist and composer
 * Nokuthula Ngwenyama (born 1976), violinist and composer
 * Ann Hobson Pilot (born 1943), harpist
 * Sonya Robinson (born 1959), violinist
 * Carolyn Utz (1913–2005), bassist and conductor

Opera singers

 * Harolyn_Blackwell_performs_in_the_East_Room_of_the_White_House.jpg performs in the East Room of the White House]]Adele Addison (born 1925), operatic soprano also performing in recitals and concerts
 * Roberta Alexander (born 1949), international operatic soprano
 * Betty Allen (1927–2009), mezzo-soprano who performed in concerts and operas from the 1950s and later served as an educator
 * Marian Anderson (1897–1993), singer of classical music and spirituals, including opera
 * Martina Arroyo (born 1936), major international operatic soprano
 * Kathleen Battle (born 1948), operatic soprano and concert performer
 * Harolyn Blackwell (born 1955), lyric coloratura soprano who has performed in many of the world's leading opera houses
 * Angel Blue (1984), operatic soprano and classical crossover artist
 * Angela Brown (born 1963), operatic soprano admired for performances of Verdi heroines
 * Débria Brown (1936–2001), operatic mezzo-soprano and educator
 * Janai Brugger (born 1983), operatic soprano performing in leading roles in several opera companies
 * Hazel Joan Bryant (1939–1983), actress, opera singer, director and playwright
 * Grace Bumbry (born 1937), leading mezzo-soprano of her generation[[File:Barbara_Hendricks_at_the_Festiwalu_Dialogu_Czterech_Kultur,_Łódź,_Poland_-_20070905.jpg|thumb|[[Barbara Hendricks]] at the Festiwalu Dialogu Czterech Kultur, Łódź, Poland.]]
 * Karla Burns (1954–2021), operatic mezzo-soprano and actress
 * Alyson Cambridge (fl. 2000s), operatic soprano, classical and jazz concert singer and actress
 * Cynthia Clarey (born 1949), operatic soprano and mezzo-soprano and classical concert performer
 * Barbara Smith Conrad (1937–2017), operatic mezzo-soprano and educator
 * Michèle Crider (born 1959), international lirico spinto soprano appearing in leading opera houses
 * Clamma Dale (born 1948), international operatic soprano and concert performer acclaimed for her portrayal of Bess
 * Billie Lynn Daniel (fl. 1960s), operatic soprano best known for performing Clara in Porgy and Bess
 * Ellabelle Davis (1907–1960), operatic soprano remembered for performing Aida in the 1940s
 * Gloria Davy (1931–2012), operatic soprano and concert singer who settled in Switzerland
 * Mary Cardwell Dawson (1894–1962), musician, educator and founding director of the National Negro Opera Company
 * Mattiwilda Dobbs (1925–2015), coloratura soprano, early international African-American performer
 * Ruby Elzy (1908–1943), pioneering short-lived African-American operatic soprano
 * Lillian Evanti (1890–1967), classical concert performer and opera singer who gained fame in France
 * Maria Ewing (born 1950), operatic soprano and mezzo-soprano, classical and jazz concert performer
 * Cassandra Extavour (fl. 2000s), Canadian geneticist and classical soprano singer
 * Zelma Watson George (1903–1994), philanthropist, musician and opera singer
 * Gail Varina Gilmore (born 1950), gospel and mezzo-soprano opera singer, known for performing Kundry in Wagner's Parsifal
 * Denyce Graves (born 1964), operatic mezzo-soprano known for performing the title roles in Carmen and Samson and Delilah
 * Elizabeth Greenfield (c. 1820–1876), best known African-American concert singer of her times, also conductor and educator
 * Reri Grist (born 1932), major international coloratura soprano and concert performer
 * Cynthia Haymon (born 1958), soprano who has performed in opera and modern classical works
 * Barbara Hendricks (born 1948), operatic soprano and concert singer who has settled in Switzerland
 * Caterina Jarboro (1898–1986), pioneering African-American opera singer who performed the title role in Aida in 1933
 * Betty Jones (1930–2019), operatic spinto soprano who performed in the 1970s
 * Isola Jones (born 1949), mezzo-soprano opera singer and educator
 * Sissieretta Jones (c.1869–1933), successful classical soprano who performed for American presidents and the British royal family
 * Jonita Lattimore (fl. 1990s), soprano and educator who has performed in operatic roles and oratorio engagements
 * Marquita Lister (born 1961), operatic soprano known for performing Bess in Porgy and Bess as well as Aida and Salome
 * Marvis Martin (born 1956), operatic soprano best known for her concert performances and recitals
 * Myra Merritt (fl. 1980s), operatic soprano and educator
 * Abbie Mitchell (1884–1960), operatic soprano who performed Clara in the première of Porgy and Bess
 * Latonia Moore (born 1979), classical soprano who has performed with leading opera companies
 * Jessye Norman (1945–2019), celebrated dramatic soprano who performed leading roles in opera and sang in recitals
 * Ailyn Pérez (born 1979), operatic soprano known for her interpretation of Violetta, Mimi and Thaïs
 * Leontyne Price (born 1927), internationally acclaimed soprano at the Metropolitan Opera
 * Florence Quivar (born 1944), operatic mezzo-soprano who gave over 100 performance at the Metropolitan Opera
 * La Julia Rhea (1898–1992), pioneering African-American operatic soprano who performed in Chicago from 1937
 * Marie Selika Williams (1849–1937), coloratura soprano, the first African American to perform at the White House
 * Murial Smith (1923–1985), singer who starred in musical theatre and opera from the 1940s
 * Florence Cole Talbert (1890–1961), operatic soprano, music educator and musician
 * Shirley Verrett (1931–2010), operatic mezzo-soprano known for singing works of Verdi and Donizetti from the late 1960s
 * Felicia Weathers (born 1937), international soprano opera and concert singer
 * Camilla Williams (1919–2012), operatic soprano and educator who performed nationally and internationally
 * Ivory Winston (1911–1996), coloratura soprano, "Iowa's First Lady of Song"

Pianists

 * Margaret Bonds (1913–1972), early composer and pianist
 * Valerie Capers (born 1935), classical and jazz pianist, and composer
 * Helen Eugenia Hagan (1891–1964), pianist, educator and composer
 * Hazel Harrison (1883–1969), concert pianist
 * Anne Gamble Kennedy (1920–2001), pianist, accompanist and educator
 * Nina Gamble Kennedy (born 1960), pianist, conductor, filmmaker and writer
 * Cornelia Lampton (1896-1928), pianist and educator
 * Margaret Patrick (1913–1994), member of the Ebony and Ivory duo
 * Philippa Schuyler (1931–1967), child prodigy, concert pianist and journalist