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The Life and Choral Works of Jester Hairston

Biographical Overview duce a new choral arrangement each week. Following
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Jester Hairston was born in Belews Creek, North the experience, Hairston realized a need for addition-
Carolina, on July 9, 1901. The family moved to Home- al training and enrolled in the Juilliard Conservatory
stead, Pennsylvania, in 1902 following the death from October 1932 to January 1933.
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of his father, and he was raised by his mother and In 1936 the Hall Johnson Choir was hired as the on-
grandmother. Hairston’s first exposure to the spiritual screen talent for the Warner Brothers film, The Green
genre—which would later become the focus of his ca- Pastures, leading Hairston and the ensemble to Holly-
reer—occurred in the evenings when his grandmother wood, California. During their seven-year residency,
would sit in the yard with her friends singing spirituals the choir was hired for thirty projects, including the
and sharing stories about their time in slavery. Oscar-nominated film Lost Horizon (1937) with music
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Hairston’s musical training began in primary school, by famed Russian composer Dimitri Tiomkin. For
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where he learned to read music by the fourth grade. In this film, Hairston assumed leadership of the ensemble
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addition to music, Hairston was a skilled football and as Johnson took ill. Impressed by his work, Tiomkin
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basketball player. Due to the racial prejudices of the told Hairston, “If I do another picture in Hollywood, I
era, however, he was not permitted to play for most want you to be my conductor and arranger.” In 1943
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universities in his home state. As a result, Hairston en- the Hall Johnson choir returned to New York, and
rolled at Amherst College in 1920, where he majored Hairston remained in Hollywood to pursue a career in
in agriculture, played quarterback for the school’s foot- film music.
ball team, and sang in the glee club. During the 1940s and 1950s, Hairston’s career be-
Financial struggles plagued Hairston throughout his gan to flourish as a choral conductor, arranger, and
collegiate pursuits, requiring him to frequently pause actor in film. Tiomkin was true to his word and hired
his academic endeavors. During his stints in and out Hairston on most all his films that utilized a chorus.
of college, he began taking private voice lessons with During these decades, Hairston is known to have
Vincent Hubbard. In 1927 he enrolled in the music worked on sixty-eight films as a musician with both
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program at Tufts University with Professor Leo Rich Tiomkin and other prominent composers of the era. 16
Lewis, made possible in part by a loan from Anna Lau- Possibly Hairston’s most significant contribution to film
ra Kidder, whom he met through a mutual friend. In music occurred in 1944 when he established the first
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total, it took Hairston nearly ten years to complete his known integrated film choir in Hollywood. 17
undergraduate degree. In 1949, Hairston began a collaboration with Walter
After graduating from Tufts in 1929, Hairston Schumann (1913–1958) and his ensemble, The Voices
moved to New York City and soon joined the Hall of Walter Schumann. Through this partnership, Hair-
Johnson Choir. Early on, Hairston requested to serve ston met David Lawson, who invited him to lead a ten-
as Johnson’s assistant conductor; however, Johnson day high school choral festival at College of the Pacific
did not believe Hairston possessed the required musi- (now University of the Pacific). Following the event,
cal training to serve in this capacity and provided him teachers wrote to Hairston inquiring how they could
with additional training and mentorship. Every day, for purchase his arrangements. Learning of the interest
about two years, Hairston rehearsed a group of sixteen in Hairston’s songs, Schumann encouraged and man-
to eighteen friends in Johnson’s home as Johnson ob- aged the publishing of Hairston’s works with a “gen-
served and provided constructive feedback. Toward tlemen’s agreement” that Hairston would not publish
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the end of this training, the Hall Johnson Choir was with anyone else. Throughout the 1950s, Hairston’s
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hired to perform weekly on the Maxwell House Radio works grew in popularity, leading to guest appearances
Show. Because Johnson and the choir were preparing to throughout the states.
leave on tour, he informed the program that he would Hairston received his first major acting role in The
send his assistant conductor, Hairston, with an ensem- Alamo (1960), starring alongside John Wayne and Rich-
ble. During this thirteen-week residency, Hairston’s ard Widmark. His popularity in the entertainment in-
skills were put to the test, as he was required to pro- dustry and skill as a musician caught the eye of the U. S.

18 CHORAL JOURNAL October 2025 Volume 66 Number 3