John W. Work, Jr. (b. Nashville, TN, 1872; d. Nashville, 1925), is well known for his pioneering studies of African American folk music and for his leadership in the performance of spirituals. He studied music at Fisk University in Nashville and classics at Harvard and then taught Latin, Greek, and history at Fisk from 1898 to 1923. Director of the Jubilee Singers at Fisk, Work also sang tenor in the Fisk Jubilee Quartet, which toured the country after 1909 and made commercial recordings. He was president of Roger Williams University in Nashville during the last two years of his life. Work and his brother Frederick Jerome Work (1879-1942) were devoted to collecting, arranging, and publishing African American slave songs and spirituals. They… Go to person page >
Translator: Joan Larie Sutton
Joan Larie Sutton (nee Riffey) was born in Louisville, KY but lived most of her life in Brazil with her missionary parents. She began the study of violin at the age of ten, continuing her studies at Baylor University. She earned a Masters Degree in sacred music at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. She married William Boyd Sutton and together they worked in Brazil. She translated many hymns into Portuguese.… Go to person page >