Background
Verna Arvey was born in Los Angeles on February 16, 1910, the daughter of Bessie (Tark) and David Arvey.
(This is the story of America's first Black composer of se...)
This is the story of America's first Black composer of serious orchestal and operatic work. William Grant Still was the first Black composer in the US to have a symphony performed by a major symphony orchestra, the first to have an opera produced by a major company in America and the first to conduct a major American orchestra. True to the promise he carried forward from his remarkable parents and grandparents, he helped his generation to shape the world of music. His spiritual convictions, his explorations of the occult, his courage during dark periods, his relationships to the luminous names in music during his lifetime, his bond to a racially-mixed family and, through it all, his dedication to the music he believed in, come together in a fascinating tale of live, aspiration, intrigue, disappointment and triumph. It is told from the perspective of the woman who shared most of that life. It is a requiem, a love story, a log of a terrible and marvelous journey, a proclamation and a promise.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0938626361/?tag=2022091-20
1984
composer journalist librettist musician pianist writer
Verna Arvey was born in Los Angeles on February 16, 1910, the daughter of Bessie (Tark) and David Arvey.
Arvey had started playing piano as a child. She received her education in the public schools in Los Angeles, she also studied music privately with Marguerite d'Aleria, Rose Cooper Vinetz, Alexander Kosloff, and Ann Eachus. She attended Manual Arts High School and graduated in 1926.
Arvey enjoyed a brief career as a concert pianist, including performances as a soloist with Raymond Paige's CBS Network orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.
Arvey’s first collaboration with her husband Still came in 1939 when Langston Hughes, the original librettist for his opera Troubled Island, left the country before the project was completed. Arvey wrote the lyrics for three arias. She became the librettist for his subsequent operatic work, most notably A Bayou Legend, A Southern Interlude, Costaso and Mota.
Later Arvey switched her focus from her own performing to advancing the public’s appreciation of her husband’s work.
Her monograph on her husband saw print in 1939; in 1984 she went into more detail about Still’s life experience with In One Lifetime.
Arvey is also the author of her own book on compositions for dance, 1941’s Choreographic Music.
(This is the story of America's first Black composer of se...)
1984Arvey was a member of American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.
Arvey married William Grant Still on February 8, 1939. The couple had two children. They were married until Still’s death in 1978.
Arvey's granddaughter is journalist Celeste Headlee.