Events in Music
Music Premiere
Apr 5 Alexander Gretchaninov's 5th Symphony premieres at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia with Leopold Stowkowski conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra
Music History
Apr 9 Marian Anderson sings before 75,000 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Birthdays in Music
- Apr 1 Rudolph Isley, American rocker (Isley Brothers - "Shout"), born in Cincinnati, Ohio
Marvin Gaye (1939-1984)
Apr 2 American soul singer-songwriter ("It Takes Two"; What's Going On"; "Let's Get It On"), born in Washington, D.C.
- Apr 3 François de Roubaix, French film score composer, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France (d. 1975)
- Apr 4 Danny Thompson, English multi-instrumentalist (Blues Incorporated), born in Teignmouth, England
- Apr 4 Hugh Masekela, South African trumpeter, anti-apartheid activist (I Am Not Afraid), described as the "father of South African jazz", born in Witbank, South Africa (d. 2018)
- Apr 4 Major Lance, American soul singer (The Monkey Time), born in Winterville, Mississippi (d. 1994)
- Apr 5 Crispian St. Peters [Robin Peter Smith], British pop singer (The Pied Piper; No No No), born in Swanley, Kent, England (d. 2010)
- Apr 5 Ronald "Ronnie" White, American singer (The Miracles - "Shop Around"), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 1995)
- Apr 6 Beverly "Guitar" Watkins, American blues guitarist, and singer, born in Atlanta, Georgia (d. 2019)
- Apr 7 Gary Kellgren, American music producer who co-founded The Record Plant studios, born in Shenandoah, Iowa (d. 1977)
- Apr 12 Peter Giger, Swiss progressive rock and jazz percussionist and bandleader (Dzyan), born in Zurich, Switzerland
- Apr 14 Jennifer Fowler, British classical composer, born in Bunbury, Australia
- Apr 15 Marty Wilde, English pop singer-songwriter ("A Teenager In Love"), and father of rocker Kim Wilde, born in London, England
- Apr 16 Dusty Springfield [Mary O'Brien], British pop vocalist ("I Only Want To Be With You"; "Son Of A Preacher Man"), born in West Hampstead, London (d. 1999)
- Apr 16 John DeLaFose, American French speaking zydeco musician, born in Duralde, Evangeline Parish, Louisiana (d. 1994)
- Apr 18 Glen Hardin, American rock n roll and country piano player, and arranger (Crickets), born in Wellington, Texas
- Apr 21 John McCabe, British composer and pianist, born in Liverpool, England (d. 2015)
- Apr 23 Patrick Williams, American composer, arranger, and conductor, born in Bonne Terre, Missouri
- Apr 23 Ray Peterson, American singer ("Tell Laura I Love Her"), born in Denton, Texas (d. 2005)
- Apr 27 Jerry Mercer, Canadian rock drummer (April Wine), born in Montreal, Quebec
- Apr 30 Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, American composer (1st woman composer to win Pulitzer Prize for Music, 1983), born in Miami, Florida
Deaths in Music
- Apr 9 Emilio Serrano y Ruiz, Spanish composer, dies at 89
- Apr 21 Herman Finck, British conductor (Palace Theatre (London), 1900-20), theater and light classical composer (In The Shadows), dies at 66
- Apr 25 John Foulds, British cellist, musicologist, and composer (World Requiem; Three Mantras), dies in Calcutta of cholera at 58
