Barbara Cooke

About

Barbara Logan Cook was a pianist, arranger, producer, teacher and mentor.

She studied piano and liberal arts at Fisk University, and subsequently attended the Juilliard School of Music. She taught for many years at Hampton University, and was professor of piano and music appreciation at North Carolina Central University. In 1947, she founded and maintained one of Durham, North Carolina’s most successful piano studios for over fifty years, with many of her students having professional performance and recording careers following their time in her studio.

As a composer, Barbara Cooke wrote vocal and instrumental arrangements of Negro Spirituals, bringing together both her classical and traditional performance roots.

She was honored at a historic event at White Rock Baptist Church in Durham, “Glory to God: Sacred Music by African American Women”, and by the North Carolina Centennial Commission in “A Salute To Black Cultural Artists”.

Related Information

Works by Barbara Cooke