Today In History; Birthdate of Dorothy Rudd Moore, U.S. Composer

1940: African American composer and soprano Dorothy Rudd Moore was born in New Castle, Delaware. Moore studied music theory and composition at Howard University, graduating magna cum laude. She went on to become one of the founders of the Society of Black Composers and to teach at New York University and Harlem School of the Arts in New York. Moore's work has been commissioned by Meet the Composer, the American Music Center, and the New York State Council on the Arts. She is perhaps best known for her opera Frederick Douglass (1985), performed by Opera Ebony.