Black students create Baltimore Institute of Musical Arts amid Jim Crow laws
For years, Jim Crow laws denied black people opportunities in education and professional careers, among other areas. In the 1940s, the Peabody Institute fired black people, telling them they couldn’t learn music there. So the students organized their own school at 811 W. Lanvale St. called the Baltimore Institute of Musical Arts. At 82, Daniel Comegys can still sing a song. His voice reflects the years he spent honing his craft and performing. His musical career began at the Baltimore Institute of Musical Arts when he was just 12 years old. Kojzar and Mollye Bendell, part of Strikeware, a Baltimore-based arts collective, researched the school. the music industry then,” Kojzar said. This school was founded by a composer named A. Jack Thomas. He was the first African American to conduct a performance at the (Baltimore Symphony Orchestra). He was a top composer who achieved national recognition,” Bendell said. This performance took place at Douglass High School in 1946. Thomas founded the school in 1944 as an integrated conservatory that would welcome students of all races or backgrounds. By default, the students were predominantly black. Comegys went to institute until high school. “That’s where I met my teacher, who trained me, his name was Frank Whitmore. The other teacher was Igor Chichagoff, who played the piano and accompanied you and taught you the style. A technique taught , how to sing, the other taught you the songs,” Comegys said. After graduating with a degree in political science from Morgan State University, Comegys continued to study music, which took him all over the world.” It gave me the foundation to go anywhere and meet n anyone,” Comegys said. “So when I arrived in Paris, I knew French. When I arrived in Germany, I knew German.” Comegys lived in Austria for 10 years and performed all over Germany and the United States at Independence Hall and the National Gallery of Art, just to name a few. He said it was this advice someone gave him that got him through: “Every closed door is an open door and every door to failure is a door to success. what struck me.” “no” from the Peabody Conservatory was a closed door that opened the window to his future. African American Newspapers and Afro Charities are redeveloping Upton Mansion, where the Institute of Musical Arts was located, for their new headquarters. The mansion will also serve as the new home of the Afro Archives and will include offices for rent to local businesses, as well as open community space for the neighborhood.
For years, Jim Crow laws denied black people opportunities in education and professional careers, among other areas.
In the 1940s, the Peabody Institute fired black people, telling them they couldn’t learn music there. So the students organized their own school at 811 W. Lanvale St. called the Baltimore Institute of Musical Arts.
At 82, Daniel Comegys can still sing a song. His voice reflects the years he spent honing his craft and performing. His musical career began at the Baltimore Institute of Musical Arts when he was just 12 years old.
“Black students couldn’t go to the Peabody Conservatory of Music, and so the professors at the Peabody Preparatory Department taught us,” Comegys said.
Christopher Kojzar and Mollye Bendell, part of Strikeware, a Baltimore-based arts collective, researched the school.
“There just wasn’t a place where black students could go and learn under the tutelage of composers or people who had high reputations in the music industry then,” Kojzar said.
“This school was founded by a composer by the name of A. Jack Thomas. He was the first African American to conduct a performance at the (Baltimore Symphony Orchestra). He was a leading composer who gained national recognition “, Bendell said.
This performance took place at Douglass High School in 1946. Thomas founded the school in 1944 as an integrated conservatory that would welcome students of all races or backgrounds. By default, the students were predominantly black. Comegys went to the institute while in high school.
“That’s where I met my teacher, who trained me, his name was Frank Whitmore. The other teacher was Igor Chichagoff, who played the piano and accompanied you and taught you the style. One was teaching the technique, how to sing, the other was teaching you the songs,” Comegys said.
After graduating with a degree in political science from Morgan State University, Comegys continued to study music which took him all over the world.
“It gave me the basics to go anywhere and meet anyone,” Comegys said. “So when I arrived in Paris, I knew French. When I arrived in Germany, I knew German.”
Comegys lived in Austria for 10 years and performed all over Germany and the United States at Independence Hall and the National Gallery of Art, to name a few.
He said it was this little piece of advice someone gave him that helped him through: “Every closed door is an open door and every door to failure is the door to success. That’s what who impressed me.”
And a “no” from the Peabody Conservatory was a closed door that opened the window to its future.
African American Newspapers and Afro Charities are redeveloping the Upton Mansion, where the Institute of Musical Arts was located, for their new headquarters. The mansion will also serve as the new home of the Afro Archives and will include offices for rent to local businesses, as well as open community space for the neighborhood.
