Ishmail Spicer Explained

Ishmael (Ishmail) Spicer (1760 - 1832) was a publisher in Baltimore,^[1] a teacher, and one of the first American composers.^[2]

Ishmael Spicer was born in Bozrah, Connecticut. He founded the first singing school at the Court House in Baltimore in November 1789, basing the curriculum using a teaching system advocated by Andrew Adgate. Tuition was set at $2.50 per quarter and the school was successful for multiple years.

For a time the singing school was attended by John Cole.^{[3] [4]}

Publications

Spicer's Pocket Companion: or the young Mason's monitor, 1799 (printed by Andrew Wright in Northampton).^[5]

References

1. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3051777 Andrew Wright: Northampton Music Printer
2. http://www.voxnovus.com/resources/American_Composer_Timeline.htm American Composer Timeline
3. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3345091 The Roots of Music Education in Baltimore
4. https://books.google.com/books?id=vLAiAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22Ishmail+Spicer%22&pg=PA44 Early Concert-life in America (1731-1800)
5. https://books.google.com/books?id=3eCLWqz9RTwC&dq=%22Ishmael+Spicer%22+composer&pg=PA12 Psalmody and Secular Songs