Clarence Cameron White

Clarence Cameron White (August 10, 1880 – June 30, 1960) was an African American neoromantic composer and concert violinist. Dramatic works by the composer were his best-known, such as the incidental music for the play Tambour and the opera Ouanga. During the first decades of the twentieth century, White was considered the foremost violinist of his race. He was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity

Biography

Born in Clarksville, Tennessee to James W. White, a doctor and school principal, and Jennie Scott White, a violinist who studied at Oberlin Conservatory of music. His father died when he was only two years old.

White received his musical training in Oberlin, Ohio at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he was the only black student in the orchestra. In Washington, D.C., he attended Howard University from 1894–1895. At age eight he studied violin, first with Will Marion Cook and then he continued his studies with Martin Legowitz at age Twelve. He attended Oberlin Conservatory of Music 1896–1901, but before graduating he accepted a teaching position. As a teacher, he began teaching in the DC public schools and then quickly, in 1903 moved on to the Washington Conservatory of Music where he taught until 1907. His musical education continued later at the Hartford School of Music.

On April 24, 1905, he married the former Beatrice Warrick. To this union were born two children:

• William Warrick......
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