Barbara (Logan) Cooke

Barbara Logan Cooke, pianist, arranger, producer, teacher and mentor, studied piano and liberal arts at Fisk University, and 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 for over fifty years one of Durham’s most successful piano studios with many of her students continuing to professional performance and recording careers.

Barbara Cooke has written innovative vocal and instrumental arrangements of Negro Spirituals bringing together her classical and traditional performance roots.  She was honored at the historic White Rock Baptist Church event, “Glory to God: Sacred Music by African American Women”, and by the North Carolina Centennial Commission in “A Salute To Black Cultural Artists”.

In 2002, at the age of 81, Barbara produced her debut recording: Sometimes I Feel: A Collection of Negro Spirituals for Voice and Instruments. These arrangements have been performed and heard worldwide, and garnered national attention including premieres at Carnegie Hall (1991), and at the Oakland, California Sacred Jazz Symposium: Exploring Spirituality in the Music (2007).

During her tenure at North Carolina Central University, she performed dramatic roles in several plays including Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin In The Sun with costar Thalmus Rasulala. She was a Charter Member and Platinum Alumna of Links, Inc., and proud soror of Alpha Kappa Alpha.

It was Barbara’s father, G.W. Logan, who instilled in her at a very young age, the appreciation and love for all music and in particular, the Negro Spiritual. She was further inspired by the Logan family’s Regal Theater productions of such luminaries as Eubie Blake, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and many other renaissance performers. These first hand glimpses inspired Barbara’s arrangements that we continue to enjoy today.

Barbara Cooke is survived by son David B. Cooke, III, daughter India M. Cooke, granddaughters April Parker-Jones and Logan Williams-Cooke, sister-in-law Alice Jones Logan, and a host of nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, April 21, 2018 at 10 a.m. at White Rock Baptist Church, 3400 Fayetteville Street, Durham, North Carolina 27707. with the Links Ceremony at 9:30 a.m.

In lieu of flowers* please make a donation 
"In memory of Barbara Logan Cooke”
to:
Fisk University All-Steinway School Initiative 
https://connect.fisk.edu/all-steinway-school-initiative
and/or
North Carolina Central University Advancement 

https://24282.thankyou4caring.org/vlb-donation 

(proceed to “Designation” and highlight one or all of the following)

NCCU - College of Arts and Sciences
Concert and Marching Band Fund
NCCU Alpha Kappa Alpha Endowed Scholarship
*If flowers are ordered, please select Standing Spray Flowers