The String Student's Library of Music by Black Composers will serve as a supplemental curriculum to acquaint students of all races in various stages of development with the classical string music of composers of African descent.  The accompanying text contained in the volumes will inform students, teachers, and parents about the rich history of Black classical musicians. As well, the String Student's Library will encourage and inspire young African-American string players to begin or progress in their musical education by teaching them that classical music and string playing are part of their history, culture, and heritage.

Most of the music is out of print or difficult to find. Some works exist only in manuscript, and other works are only published in editions appropriate for adult professionals rather than for young musicians. 

The String Student's Library of Music by Black Composers will be the first anthology of this repertoire specifically designed for educational use.

• Repertoire for violin (Phase 1), cello (Phase 2), viola (Phase 3), and string ensembles (Phases 4-5
• Volumes graded by skill levels for beginners through advanced students
• Music from the 1700s to the present day
• Music by composers from America, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean
• Diversity of musical styles: compositions in traditional European forms, arrangements of spirituals, works influenced by jazz and blues, works inspired by African, Latin and Asian folk traditions
• Companion CDs – study recordings of the entire repertoire featured in each volume
• Biography of each composer and interviews with living composers
• Profiles of historic Black violinists, such as George Bridgetower, for whom Beethoven wrote the Kreutzer Sonata
• Interviews with inspiring, living string players working as solo artists, orchestral musicians, chamber musicians, studio musicians, university professors, and teachers of beginning string students
• Feature articles on the history of African-descended people's participation in classical music and string playing  (See below.)
  
• Illustrations – historic drawings, paintings, and photographs, contemporary photographs, and newly commissioned illustrations
• Supplemental Web site with interactive educational games, extended performer profiles, links to further resources for Black music history, and audio and video elements
  

The String Student's Library of Music by Black Composers  will feature a multi-page article on each of these topics, with photographs, other illustrations and appropriate citations.

Articles include:

Prominent African-Americans who Played Violin as an Avocation

• Enthusiastic amateur violinists include Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington and Louis Farrakhan.
  

Black Jazz Violinists from the Past to the Present

• Influential Black violinists from the early jazz era include Stuff Smith and Eddie South.
• Claude "Fiddler" Williams was a renowned member of Count Basie's orchestra.
• Some of today's most important jazz violinists are women: Regina Carter, Diane Monroe and Lesa Terry.
  

Classical Sampling and Violin Playing in Hip-Hop and R&B

• Violinists working in the urban music arena include Black Violin, Nuttin' But Strings and Miri Ben-Ari.
• Many hip-hop songs by leading artists such as Kanye West and Outkast have sampled works by classical composers such as Bach and Beethoven.
• Contemporary composers/violinists Daniel Bernard Roumain and Gregory Walker blend hip-hop influences into their classical works.

Black American Symphony Orchestras

• Orchestras from the 1800s include the Negro Philharmonic Societies in New Orleans and New York.
• Twentieth century orchestras include the Baltimore City Colored Orchestra and the Sphinx Symphony.

Orchestras of the African Continent

• Countries with Symphony Orchestras include Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, the Congo, and Kenya.

Classical Music Scenes in the African Diaspora

• Jamaica has had Black classical musicians since the 1700s and founded its own symphony orchestra in 1929.
• There are developing scenes of classical music education, performance, and composition in many countries including Haiti and Nigeria.

Bowed String Instruments of Africa

• Bowed string instruments, held on the arm like the European violin, have been popular in West Africa for many centuries. The "African fiddle" is still played today, particularly in Ghana and Kenya.

Black Fiddlers and American Traditional Music

• American fiddle music (the "Appalachian" style) is the evolution of two ancestral styles: Celtic music from Britain and the music of early enslaved Africans.
• The violin is the most frequently mentioned instrument in slave narratives.
• In the beginning of the recorded era, many performances of Black Appalachian and blues fiddlers were captured on field recordings.

Classical Music at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

• Many HBCUs offered classical music instruction from the time of their founding.
• HBCUs currently offer private and group instruction and classes in Black classical music history.
  

Black Violin Makers, Bow Makers, String Instrument Restorers, and Violin Shop Owners

• The first prominent Black violin maker and shop owner worked in Baltimore in the late 1800s.
• Samuel L. Jackson portrayed an international violin dealer in the film 'The Red Violin.'