Collection: Noel Da Costa Papers | Georgetown University Archival Resources

Scope and Contents

This collection is currently being processed and access to it may therefore be limited. Researchers are advised to contact the Booth Family Center for Special Collections for more information on access to this collection.

The collection consists of the papers of Noel Da Costa, a musical composer and college professor who taught at Rutgers University for over 30 years. It primarily consists of music manuscripts by Da Costa, audio recordings (by Da Costa, his students/contemporaries, and commercial recordings), and music manuscripts by others. The collection also contains concert programs, posters, correspondence, photographs, course materials, and other items.

Dates

1950 - 2002

Creator

Da Costa, Noel, 1929-2002 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers are solely responsible for determining the copyright status of the materials being used, establishing who the copyright owner is, locating the copyright owner, and obtaining permission for intended use.

Biographical Note

Noel Da Costa (1929-2002) was a noted musical composer and college professor who taught at Rutgers University for over 30 years.

Da Costa was born in Nigeria in 1929. His parents, who were from Jamaica, were missionaries for the Salvation Army. When he was a child, his family moved to Harlem. Da Costa attended at Queens College and Columbia University. As a Fulbright Scholar, he studied in Italy under Luigi Dallapiccola.

In 1961, Da Costa began his academic career as a professor at Hampton University. Subsequently, he taught at Hunter College and Queens College. In 1970, Da Costa began his service as a professor at Rutgers University, where he worked until 2001.

Da Costa belonged to a group of Black composers in New York City. His sister Lorna McDaniel was an ethnomusicologist. Da Costa was known for his work setting poems for Gwendolyn Brooks, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes,and others. He also hepled establish the Society of Black Composers, an organization which ceased operations in 1975.

Noel Da Costa died in 2002.

[Source: "Noel Da Costa, 82, Composer and Professor" (obituary) from the "New York Times" 5/20/2002. Accessed Online].