Margaret Bonds

This is the first major biography of African American composer, pianist, and activist Margaret Bonds. It draws on extensive archival research to correct numerous misconceptions large and small about her and offers an account of her life and work that is detailed, yet accessible to scholars and non-specialists alike. Author John Michael Cooper places emphasis on identifying the cultural, familial, political, and racial factors that motivated Bonds as she rose from being a child prodigy from Chicago's South side to international renown. Special features are new insights into the chronology and nature of Bonds's collaborative friendships with contemporary notables including Langston Hughes, and a concluding survey of her hundreds of works categorized by genre. In response to the increasing globalization of music, the Composers across Cultures series, formerly the Master Musicians series, seeks to explore the inexhaustible diversity of music, and its common links to our shared humanity.