Carl Rossini Diton

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Carl Rossini Diton
BornOctober 30, 1886
DiedJanuary 25, 1962
Alma materUniversity of Pennsylvania, Juilliard
Known forSymphony in C Minor

Carl Rossini Diton (October 30, 1886 – January 25, 1962) was a pianist and composer.[1][2][3] He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and received a diploma from Juilliard.[4] He traveled extensively as a concert pianist and was said to have been the first black pianist to make a transcontinental tour in 1909.[5]

Diton worked with traditional spirituals and performed them in concert styles and for solo organ performances.[6] He worked as a church organist at St. Thomas's African Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, offered private lessons, and was the assistant to the head of the symphonic orchestration department at Juilliard for nine years.[7]

Diton was a charter member of the National Association of Negro Musicians and served as its president from 1926 through 1928.[8][9] He won a Harmon Award for music in 1929.

Personal life[edit]

Diton was born in Philadelphia to Phebe Harvey Diton and Samuel James Diton. He was raised primarily by his aunts Emma and Josey Harvey.[10] Diton was friends in childhood with Yolande Du Bois and maintained a correspondence with W. E. B. Du Bois throughout his adult life.[11]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Diton, Carl". Digital Library of Georgia: Atlanta University Photographs. Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Carl Rossini Diton: pianist -- composer (contemporary), September 5, 1961". W. E. B. Du Bois Papers Series 1. Correspondence. UMass Amherst. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  3. ^ "CARL ROSSINI DITON". The New York Times. 1962-01-27. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
  4. ^ Hackley, E. Azalia (July 19, 1917). "Some Colored Community Music Missionaries". New York Times. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  5. ^ Samet, Rachel. "Diton, Carl Rossini (1886 - 1962), pianist, composer, singer, teacher". Grove Music Online. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  6. ^ Johnston, Michael; Apple, John (1962-01-25). "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot!, by Carl R Diton, Order Online". Organ Sheet Music. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
  7. ^ "Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia records, circa 1820-1994". Directory. 1989-01-13. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
  8. ^ Wintz, Cary; Finkelman, Paul (2004). Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance: Vol. 2 K-Y. Taylor & Francis. p. 866. ISBN 9781579584580.
  9. ^ Horne, Aaron (1996). Brass Music of Black Composers: A Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 84. ISBN 0313298262. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  10. ^ "1910 Census Philadelphia PA". FamilySearch.org (in German). 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
  11. ^ "search for "diton" in the W. E. B. Du Bois archives". W. E. B. Du Bois Papers. University of Massachusetts Amherst Special Collections Archive. Retrieved 18 January 2019.


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