Born in Jarratt, Virginia, Undine Smith Moore, the “Dean of Black Women Composers,” was a music educator and composer. A granddaughter of slaves, she took to the piano at a young age. Her post-secondary education began at Fisk University, a historically Black college where she studied piano, organ, and music theory, earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1926. From there, she obtained her Master of Arts at Columbia University Teachers College in 1931. Additionally, Moore studied at the Juilliard, Manhattan, and Eastman Schools of Music, and was notably the first Fisk graduate to receive a scholarship to Juilliard.

Moore’s career started in North Carolina public schools, as a supervisor of music programs. She later went on to Virginia State College where she held the position of professor of music theory and composition for more than four decades. During her time at Virginia State, she co-founded and co-directed the university’s Black Music Center. The mission of this center was to promote appreciation of music by Black individuals in America. Moore received numerous honors and awards for her musical accomplishments, such as the Virginia Governor’s Award in the Arts, National Association of Negro Musicians Distinguished Achievement Award, Candace Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, and honorary doctorates from Virginia State College and Indiana University. Despite this prestigious recognition for her compositions, Moore always thought of herself as an educator first, calling herself “a teacher who composes, rather than a composer who teaches.”