Smith, Irene Britton | Center for Black Music Research
Name: Smith, Irene Britton
Historical Note: Irene Britton Smith (1907–1999) was born and educated in Chicago, where she attended Wendell Phillips High School and the Chicago Normal School. Music and music composition were her avocation. Professionally, she taught reading in the Chicago Public schools for forty years. During her summer vacations she studied music in Chicago, receiving a BM from the American Conservatory in 1946, and a MM from DePaul University in 1956. She also studied composition at Juilliard, at Tanglewood, and with Nadia Boulanger at the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, France. Smith herself played violin, piano, and organ, and served as a church musician. After her retirement from teaching, she was active as a docent for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s youth concerts.