HELEN WALKER KING: “Cincinnati’s Soloist” – A Black Voice for Change Through Music
By Thea Tjepkema Dramatic soprano Helen Walker King (1898-1957) was an important Black voice in Cincinnati during the first half … Read More
Nadine Roberts Waters: La Cantatrice de Cincinnati
By Thea Tjepkema There are singers whose names are legends and whose artistry will never be forgotten. There are others … Read More
Music Hall’s Part in Ted Berry’s Fight for Social Justice
When Cincinnati’s one-time mayor Theodore M. Berry reached a part of his boyhood story, tears came into his eyes. It … Read More
Estella Rowe & Wade Mann:
First Local Black Soloists with the CSO
by Thea Tjepkema Although Music Hall hosted numerous African American artists in her early days, it was not until … Read More
It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got That Swing: Music Hall’s Greystone Ballroom 1928-1935
by Thea Tjepkema For more than 140 years Music Hall has been considered the epicenter of Cincinnati’s orchestral and choral … Read More
Mamie Smith: Queen of the Blues in Cincinnati Music Hall
By Thea Tjepkema Tornadoes had swept the south, and a blizzard gripped the western states on April 16, 1921, when … Read More
Fountain Lewis: The Venerable Barber Who Helped Build Cincinnati Music Hall
By Thea Tjepkema On January 4, 1898 the funeral of Fountain Lewis, Cincinnati’s most esteemed African American barber for … Read More
Divas in Cincinnati Music Hall:
Patti, Patti, Patti, and Jones
by Thea Tjepkema The phenomenal singing careers of four women in the nineteenth century were announced and recognized in … Read More