Biographical Note: 

Eubanks, Rachel (1922-2006)

Rachel Eubanks born Sept. 12, 1922, in San Jose and grew up in Oakland, California.  Her love for music started at an early age, writing her first compositions at the age of 11 and 12 which are entitled Just You and I and Memories of Mother of Mine. (The-ecma.com, 2016)  She attended the University of California at Berkeley earning her BA in 1945.  She then went on to Columbia University and received her M.A. in 1947.  While at Columbia she studied ethnomusicology and began to travel and collect musical instruments, artifacts and recorded music.  Because of these experiences she was inspired to write works based on Chinese, Korean, and Indonesian influences.  In 1980 she received a D.M.A. from Pacific Western University in California.

After her tenure as music department chair at Albany State College in Georgia and Wilberforce University in Ohio, Rachel Eubanks was determined to start her own school in California.  In 1951 she founded the Eubanks Conservatory of Music and Arts in Los Angeles. The school offered associate, bachelor and master degrees in instruments, voice performance, theory, composition and music history. (Zick, 2007)

In the 1950’s Rachel Eubanks primarily concentrated on writing choral music.  In the late 1970’s and 1980’s she began to incorporate Far Eastern music in her materials. “Eubanks employs Indonesian traditions in her music: gamelan-style stratification, pentatonic scales, and a chanting vocal style.” (Walker-Hill, 2007)  She wrote primarily for orchestra, smaller instrumental groups and vocal ensembles, and her compositions included pieces that were reflective of her interest in various cultures.” (Zick, 2007)

Rachel Eubanks work won recognition from the International Dictionary of Black Composers and received a composition award from the National Association of Negro musicians in 1948. (Zick, 2007)  She died April 8, 2006 of colon cancer at the age of 83.

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References

Walker-Hill, H. (2002). From spirituals to symphonies. 1st ed. Westport [CT.]: Greenwood Press.

Zick, W. and profile, V. (2007). Rachel Eubanks (1922-2006), African American Composer, Taught Music 50 Years. [Online] Africlassical.blogspot.com. Available at: http://africlassical.blogspot.com/2007/12/rachel-eubanks-1922-2006-african.html

The-ecma.com. (2016). The Eubanks Conservatory of Music and Arts – the-ecma.com. [Online] Available at: https://the-ecma.com/