JESSYE, Eva

  Eva Jessye was an American artist whose life was devoted to the arts: she made contributions as a singer, actress, choral director, author, and poet. Jessye was acknowledged as the first African American woman to win international distinction as a director of a professional choral group. She directed the Eva Jessye Choir, which performed many styles of music including spirituals, work songs, mountain ballads, ragtime, jazz, and light opera. She also wrote poetry which she saw as another form of music.

Her professional influence extended for decades through her teaching as well. Her accomplishments in this field were historic for any woman. She collaborated in productions of groundbreaking works including serving as musical director with George Gershwin on his innovative opera Porgy and Bess (1935).

The Eva Jessye Choir toured internationally giving concerts in war-torn Europe. Jessye walked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963 during his civil rights march; her group was the official choir for the event.

Jessye traveled the world sharing her Kansas roots through music and the rhythm of her poetry. She returned to Kansas late in life and continued to produce works of music and poetry well into her 90s. Eva Jessye, the "grand dame of Black music in America," died in 1992.