Oral history interview with Jacqueline Hairston, 1999

Jacqueline Hairston recounts her early experiences with music, beginning with piano lessons at 8, and her appointment as the church music director at 12. She discusses her entree into and early days of arranging spirituals for renowned vocalists such as Leontyne Price and Kathleen Battle, and how she established her reputation as a solo spiritual arranger. She talks about how the concertizing of spirituals has expanded their audience and acceptability, and how this acceptability contributes to the preservation of spirituals. Hairston's approach to concertizing, or arranging, of spirituals is to retain the intent and content of the melodic line, and to incorporate the piano part to glorify it.