Label
Born January 20, 1895, in Coffeyville, KS
Died February 21, 1992, in Ann Arbor, MI
Eva Jessye is credited with authenticating the sounds of George Gershwin’s American classic Porgy and Bess (1935), for which she served as musical director. She was the first Black woman to win international distinction as the director of a professional choral group, the Eva Jessye Singers. Other innovative productions for which she was choral director include Hallelujah!, a 1929 film by King Vidor, and Four Saints in Three Acts, an opera by Virgil Thomson and Gertude Stein. Acting for many years as the Ambassador of the Arts from Kansas, she eventually retired to her home in Ann Arbor, Michigan.