Basic Facts
Born: July 9, 1925, Richmond, Indiana
Died: July 31, 2005, East Cleveland, Ohio
Type of Performer: Cellist
Genre: Classical
Notable Achievements:
- First African American member of the Cleveland Orchestra
About Donald White
Donald White, a native of Richmond, Indiana, started playing cello when he was 16. In 1943, he was drafted into the United States Navy, where he played bass tuba and peckhorn in the Navy band. After leaving the Navy, he attended Roosevelt University in Chicago where he earned his degree in music in 1952. While in Chicago, White studied with a cellist in the Chicago Symphony while playing in an African American orchestra and the Chicago Civic Orchestra. He went on to earn his Master's degree at the University of Hartford in Connecticut, where he had a fellowship that granted him the position of assistant principle cellist in the Hartford Symphony.
In 1957, he successfully audition for Maestro George Szell and earned a spot in the Cleveland Orchestra, becoming the first African American member of that orchestra. Made at a time when the country was deeply divided over civil rights, the appointment was not without controversy: before a 1961 concert performance by the orchestra in Birmingham, Alabama, city officials tried to stop White from taking the stage with the rest of the orchestra. The performance went ahead only after Maestro Szell threatened to cancel the sold-out event. Back in Cleveland, White took up teaching positions at the College of Wooster and the Cleveland Music School Settlement, and he was known for encouraging minority youth to play music. He retired in 1996 after 39 years with the orchestra. He continued to live in East Cleveland with his wife Dolores (herself an accomplished pianist, performer, and educator) until his death in 2005.
Listen
Donald White tells the story of how he got an audition with the Cleveland Orchestra:
Diana White-Gould, daughter of Donald White, tells the story of the Cleveland Orchestra's 1961 Birmingham, Alabama performance:
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