Noel DaCosta

Background

DaCosta was born in Nigeria to parents of Jamaican heritage, who were Salvation Army missionaries.

Education

DaCosta completed his Bachelor"s at Queens College in 1952 and his Master"s in theory and composition at Columbia University in 1956, studying with Otto Luening and Jack Beeson.

Career

After moving to Jamaica while DaCosta was young, they emigrated to New New York He studied with Luigi Dallapiccola in Florence, Italy under a Fulbright Fellowship, and shortly thereafter took positions teaching at Hampton University and the City University of New New York In 1970 he accepted a position at Rutgers University, where he taught until 2001.

He died the following year at the age of 72.

DaCosta"s works are marked by an infusion of elements of jazz, Caribbean music, and African music into the framework of Western classical music

Achievements

• The New York Times has described his music as "conservatively chromatic." DaCosta was also a co-founder of the Society of Black Composers. He was an accomplished violinist, playing his own works as well as both classical and jazz music He played on albums by Les McCann, Roland Kirk, Bernard Purdie, Roberta Flack, McCoy Tyner, Donny Hathaway, Felix Cavaliere, Willis Jackson, Eddie Kendricks, and others