Lena Mae Johnson McLin

1928 - 2023

About

Lena McLin, known as the woman who launched a thousand careers, is a musician, music teacher, author, pastor and composer. Her uncle, Thomas A. Dorsey, is known as the father of gospel music. McLin earned a Bachelor’s degree in music, specializing in piano and violin, from Spelman College, and a graduate degree in music from the American Conservatory of Music. McLin taught school in Chicago at Hubbard High School, Harlan High School, and Kenwood Academy High School.

She has helped launch or enhance the careers of singer and actor Mandy Patinkin; Metropolitan Opera star Mark Rucker; jazz singers Maggie Brown and Kim English; and R&B artists Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Da Brat, R. Kelly, and Jennifer Hudson, as well as vocal training students such as Tammy McCann, Mark Rucker, and Robert Sims.

McLin has published over 400 compositions, cantatas, masses, solo and choral arrangements of spirituals, art songs, gospels, rock operas, soul and pop songs, works for piano and full orchestra, and electronic music arrangements, including Free At Last: A Portrait Of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gwendolyn Brooks: A Musical Portrait. In the 1950’s, McLin established musical outlets for African-American musicians such as the Mclin Ensemble and the McLin Opera Company. Rev. Dr. McLin is the recipient of the Chicago Music Awards 2003 Lifetime Achievement award and the Human Symphony’s Foundation living legends award honoree in 2007 and She has been awarded honorary degrees from Virginia Union University and Spelman College.

Related Information

https://aaregistry.org/story/lena-mclin-composer-and-educator-born/

Works by Lena Mae Johnson McLin