Everett Lee

Lee in 1948

Everett Lee (August 31, 1916 – January 12, 2022) was an American conductor and violinist. He was the first African-American to conduct a Broadway musical. He was also the first African-American to conduct a performance by a major US opera company. In September 1945, he became the main conductor of the musical On the Town. He later conducted at Tanglewood. He served as director of Columbia University's opera department in the early 1950s.

Lee was born in Wheeling, West Virginia. In 1927, he moved with his parents to Cleveland, Ohio. He married Sylvia Olden Lee in 1944. The couple later divorced. He later married his second wife. He lived in Sweden. He turned 100 in 2016.^[1]

Lee died on January 12, 2022, in Malmö, Sweden. He was 105.^[2][3]

References

1. McKnight, Terrence (August 31, 2016). "Happy 100th Birthday Everett Lee, Trailblazing Conductor". WQXR. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
2. "Everett Lee" (in Swedish). ratsit.se. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
3. "Maestro Everett Lee, Conductor, The Passing of a Musical Icon at 105". africlassical.blogspot.com. January 16, 2022. Retrieved January 16, 2022.