Experience the Musical Journey

• To bring together persons concerned about music in our community

• ​Develop an awareness and appreciation for traditional African - American music and composers

• To foster a larger public appreciation for education in good music

• To encourage the use of Negro Folk Themes as a basis for compositions

• To develop higher professional standards through lectures, conferences, demonstrations, recitals, workshops, & concerts

• ​To promote the exchange of ideas and the spirit of fellowship among musicians

• ​To create wider opportunities for artists & musicians

Who We Are

• OFFICERS:

• ​SANDRA KIRTON- PRESIDENT

• ​INDRA THOMAS - VICE PRESIDENT

• ​TIM PARROTT - CORRESPONDING SECRETARY

• TIMOTHY HARPER- RECORDING SECRETARY

• ​DAVID VAUGHN - TREASURER

• ​MARIA CLARK - FINANCIAL SECRETARY

• BERNICE HALL - MEMBERSHIP CHAIRPERSON

• SHALA JENKINS - PROGRAM CHAIRPERSON

• PAMELA DILLARD- SCHOLARSHIP CHAIRPERSON

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Our History

The National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc. is this country’s oldest organization dedicated to the preservation, encouragement, and advocacy of all genres of the music of African-Americans.  NANM had its beginning on May 3, 1919 in Washington, D.C. at a temporary initial conference of “Negro” musicians under the leadership of Henry Grant and Nora Holt.  Its first national convention was held in Chicago, Illinois in the same year.  Our organization is supported by people of strong cultural ideals and high musical standards, all of whom care deeply for the fine art of music, and for an inclusive musical culture throughout the country.  Within NANM, members lend their support and influence—educators and professional musicians share their musical knowledge, amateurs and enthusiasts grow in their musical enjoyment, and people of all ages come together to participate in one of the most powerful forces of spiritual and cultural development, and the total human experience that is music.
​​From the beginning, NANM has provided encouragement and support to thousands of African American musicians, many of whom have become widely respected figures in music and have contributed significantly to American culture and music history.  The organization has awarded scholarships to scores of talented young musicians throughout the country.  A list of them would include such luminaries as Marian Anderson (first scholarship award recipient in 1919), William L. Dawson, Florence B. Price, Margaret Bonds, Warren George Wilson, James Frazier, Julia Perry, Grace Bumbry, Leon Bates, Joseph Joubert, Awadagin Pratt, and many, many others.
Over the years, many international personalities have been presented in performance, including  Lena Horne, Todd Duncan, John W. Work, R. Nathaniel Dett, Marian Anderson, Edward Boatner, Camille Nickerson, Clarence Cameron White, Margaret Bonds, Florence B. Price, Etta Moten, Betty Allen, Natalie Hinderas, Adele Addison, Kermit Moore, Simon Estes, George Shirley, Robert McFerrin, Shirley Verrett, Jessye Norman, Sanford Allen, Derek Lee Ragin, the Uptown String Quartet, Esther Hinds, Ruby Hinds, Wilhelmina Fernandez, the Hinds Sisters, William Warfield, Benjamin Matthews, the Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers, Harolyn Blackwell, Billy Taylor, Delphin and Romain, Gregory Hopkins, and Martina Arroyo.
Clinicians and lecturers of note include Carl Diton, Warner Lawson, Frederick Hall, Kemper Harreld, Wendell Whalum, Eileen Southern, Doris McGinty, Alain Locke, Grace Bumbry, Sylvia Olden Lee, James Cleveland, Raoul Abdul, Geneva Handy Southall, Sowah Mensah, Robert Ray, Willis Patterson, Roland Carter, Brazeal Dennard, Robert Harris, and Shirley Verrett.  These notables constitute only a fraction of the many musicians, educators, scholars, and lovers of music, who constitute the musical fabric of this organization.