Ulysses Kay
Ulysses Simpson Kay, Jr. was a prominent African American composer and musician known for his diverse body of work and significant contributions to classical music. Born into a musically inclined family, he began his formal music education at a young age, studying piano, violin, and alto saxophone. After graduating from the University of Arizona, he advanced his studies at the Eastman School of Music, where he honed his skills in composition under renowned instructors. Kay's music gained recognition early in his career, with performances by prestigious ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic.
Throughout his life, Kay received numerous accolades, including the Prix de Rome and multiple fellowships, which reflected his exceptional talent and dedication to music. His works encompassed orchestral compositions, chamber music, choral pieces, and more, showcasing his versatility as a composer. Kay also played a vital role in academia, teaching at several universities and earning the title of distinguished professor at Herbert H. Lehman College in New York. He is celebrated as one of the influential African American composers of the post-World War II era, and his legacy continues to inspire musicians and composers today. Kay passed away on May 20, 1995, in Englewood, New Jersey.
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Subject Terms
Ulysses Kay
Composer
- Born: January 7, 1917
- Birthplace: Tucson, Arizona
- Died: May 20, 1995
- Place of death: Englewood, New Jersey
An exceptionally productive composer, Kay also distinguished himself as an editor, educator, and representative of the American orchestral coming of age. His use of neoclassical forms provided a framework for lyrically dissonant counterpoint that takes full advantage of the wide array of orchestral timbres.
Early Life
Ulysses Simpson Kay, Jr. (yew-LIH-seez) was born into a musical family. His father worked as a barber but dabbled in composition. His mother and sister both played piano, and his maternal uncle, the legendary jazz cornetist and bandleader Joe “King” Oliver, encouraged Kay to take piano lessons. Kay began studying piano with William Ferguson at the age of six. He started violin lessons at the age of ten, then switched to the alto saxophone at twelve. While attending the racially integrated Tucson Senior High School, Kay sang in the glee club, played saxophone in the marching band, and performed in various small jazz ensembles. A fan of popular music by Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman, Kay also attended concerts by famed classical performers such as Jascha Heifetz and Marian Anderson.
Kay enrolled at the University of Arizona, where he met and received encouragement from composer William Grant Still. At the university, Kay studied piano with Julia Rebeil and theory with John L. Lowell before graduating with a bachelor’s degree in music in 1938. Kay continued his education at the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Howard Hanson and Bernard Rogers, the latter of whom Kay deemed his greatest influence. Kay graduated from Eastman with a master’s degree in composition in 1940 and subsequently won scholarships to study with Paul Hindemith at the Berkshire Music Center and Yale School of Music.
Life’s Work
While Kay was still a student at Eastman, his works began to draw public acclaim. In April, 1939, the Rochester Civic Orchestra presented the first two movements of his Sinfonietta under Hanson’s direction at a four-day symposium. The following year, the same ensemble performed Kay’s Oboe Concerto with Robert Sprenkle as soloist. The Free Library of Philadelphia invited Kay to submit these and other unpublished manuscripts for a Works Progress Administration Music Copying Project cosponsored by Philadelphia philanthropist Edwin A. Fleisher and designed to encourage the performance of contemporary American symphonic works by providing full performance sets. The library’s efforts facilitated performances and evaluations of Kay’s compositions with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Cleveland, at the University of Arizona, and at the American Academy in Rome.
Despite Kay’s enlistment in the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1942, his music continued to move from the page to the stage with various performance organizations. For example, the New York Philharmonic presented his symphonic overture Of New Horizons in 1944. Kay received an honorable discharge from the Naval Reserves in 1945, and a series of honors and awards came his way. In 1946, he won the American Broadcasting Company Award for Of New Horizons and an Alice M. Ditson Fellowship from the Academy of Arts and Letters. The following year, he won the George Gershwin Memorial Contest with A Short Overture; received a prize from the American Society for Composers, Authors, and Publishers for Suite for Orchestra; and received a Julius Rosenwald Fellowship to study with Otto Luening at Columbia University. Kay won the Prix de Rome in 1949 and again in 1951 and received a Fulbright Award in 1950 while studying at the American Academy in Rome. He earned a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1964. He received honorary doctorates from Lincoln University, Bucknell University, the University of Arizona, and Illinois Wesleyan University.
After returning to the United States from Rome, Kay worked as a concert music consultant with Broadcast Music Incorporated from 1953 to 1968. He took part in a U.S. State Department cultural exchange mission to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1958 with Roy Harris, Peter Menin, and Roger Sessions. Kay served at various times on the faculties of Boston University, Bucknell University, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Macalester College, St. Paul, and the Brevard Music Center. He served as professor of music from 1968 to 1988 at the Herbert H. Lehman College of City University of New York, where he earned the title of distinguished professor.
Kay’s compositional output includes orchestral works, chamber pieces, piano works, choral and vocal pieces, operas, a ballet, and music for television and film. Many of these works were commissioned by such prestigious organizations as the Koussevitzky Music Foundation; the National Symphony; Opera South in Jackson, Mississippi; the Louisville Orchestra; the Atlanta Symphony; the American Choral Directors; the Juilliard School of Music; and the Harlem School of the Arts. Kay died May 20, 1995, in Englewood, New Jersey.
Significance
As racial restrictions slowly loosened in the twentieth century, Kay’s talent and commitment helped him to become one of the most celebrated composers of his generation. He wrote a wide array of accessible works that were widely performed. Along with George Walker, Kay represents the generation of African American composers who thrived in post-World War II America.
Bibliography
Baker, David N., Lida M. Belt, and Herman C. Hudson, eds. The Black Composer Speaks. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1978. A project of the African American Arts Institute of Indiana University, this book comprises interviews with fifteen black composers along with brief biographies and lists of their works.
Hobson, Constance Tibbs, and Deborra A. Richardson. Ulysses Kay: A Bio-Bibliography. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1994. Includes a biographical sketch, chronological list of works, discography with performance notes, and annotated bibliography.
Southern, Eileen. The Music of Black Americans: A History. 3d ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 1997. The late Harvard University Music and African American studies professor provides an overview of Kay’s career in the context of black music in America.