Background
Rhodes grew up in Dunkirk, Ohio and received Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music degrees from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.
Rhodes grew up in Dunkirk, Ohio and received Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music degrees from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.
Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, Heidelberg College, 1922; student, Wittenberg College, 1922-1923; Master of Arts, Columbia, 1925; student, Mannes School Music., 1923-1925; student, Ecole Normale de Musique, Paris, 1925-1927.
He is known for his extensive recording of American Indian music between 1939 and 1952. He received an Master of Arts from Columbia University in 1929. In France, he studied with Nadia Boulanger.
From 1937 to 1969, he served as a professor at Columbia University, where he founded the graduate program in ethnomusicology, and co-founded the Society for Ethnomusicology, serving as that organization"s first president
He also conducted field recording in Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and India. His field recordings have been released by Folkways Records and the Library of Congress Recording Laboratory.
A collection of Rhodes" recordings and other materials is held by the University of California, Los Angeles Ethnomusicology Archive. A selection of American Indian music, chosen by Rhodes, was released on the Voyager Golden Record (1977).
Fellow African Studies Association, American Institute Indian Studies. Member International Institute for Comparative Music Research and Documentation (member scientific board), American Anthropological Society, American Musicol. Society, American Folklore Society, African Music Society, American Ethnological Society (councilor 1959), Music library association, Society Ethnomusicology (president 1955-1957), Society Asian Music (honorary president), International Folk Music Council (president 1967).
Son of John Osborne and Lula (Sheely) R. M. Lillian Hansen, July 6, 1940. 1 daughter, Joy Cooper.