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]
Carl Rossini Diton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | October 30, 1886 |
| Died | January 25, 1962 |
| Alma mater | University of Pennsylvania, Juilliard |
| Known for | Symphony in C Minor |
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
editDiton 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- ^ "Diton, Carl". Digital Library of Georgia: Atlanta University Photographs. Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
- ^ "Carl Rossini Diton: pianist -- composer (contemporary), September 5, 1961". W. E. B. Du Bois Papers Series 1. Correspondence. UMass Amherst. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
- ^ "CARL ROSSINI DITON". The New York Times. 1962-01-27. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
- ^ Hackley, E. Azalia (July 19, 1917). "Some Colored Community Music Missionaries". New York Times. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
- ^ Samet, Rachel. "Diton, Carl Rossini (1886 - 1962), pianist, composer, singer, teacher". Grove Music Online. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
- ^ Johnston, Michael; Apple, John (1962-01-25). "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot!, by Carl R Diton, Order Online". Organ Sheet Music. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
- ^ "Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia records, circa 1820-1994". Directory. 1989-01-13. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
- ^ Wintz, Cary; Finkelman, Paul (2004). Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance: Vol. 2 K-Y. Taylor & Francis. p. 866. ISBN 9781579584580.
- ^ Horne, Aaron (1996). Brass Music of Black Composers: A Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 84. ISBN 0313298262. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
- ^ "1910 Census Philadelphia PA". FamilySearch.org (in German). 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
- ^ "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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