Julian Work

Julian Cassander Work (September 25, 1910—June 15, 1995) was an arranger and composer.

Work was born in Nashville, Tennessee, to a family of professional musicians. His grandfather, John Wesley Work (1848-1923) was a composer and arranger for the Fisk Jubilee Singers; his father, John Wesley Work Jr. (1871-1925) was the first African-American collector of folk songs and spirituals, and also a choral director, educator and songwriter; his brother John Wesley Work III (1901-1967) was a composer, educator, choral director, musicologist and scholar of African-American folklore and music; his mother, Agnes Hayes Work, was a singer who also helped train the Fisk Jubilee Singers.^[1]

Work studied music with local teacher Mary E. Chamberlain and was involved in musical activities from an early age, participating in neighborhood musical groups and performing as a jazz pianist.^[2][1] He studied composition with his brother John Wesley Work III while attending Fisk University, where he majored in sociology.^[2][3] By 1929 he had moved to New York City and was playing piano on the radio.^[4] He became a staff arranger for CBS Radio, becoming one of the first Black American composers to write music for radio and television.^[3] He was also the sole music arranger for the Voice of Firestone on radio and television.^[2] Work was also a member of the American Society of Music Arrangers and served on its national board in the mid-1940s.^[5]

Work married Kathryn Holliday in 1953.^[6] Upon his retirement they moved to Tolland, Massachusetts, where he died.^[3]