Aubrey Pankey

Aubrey W. Pankey (June 1905 – May 8/9, 1971) was an African American baritone and noted Lieder singer in 1930s Germany. In 1956 he permanently emigrated to East Germany under the growing shadow of McCarthyism together with his companion Fania Fénelon. He was the first American to sing in the People's Republic of China in 1956.

Pankey was born in June 1905 and grew up in the Hill District neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father who was a railroad worker died when he was 14. His mother, Lucy Belle Pankey, who performed in a semi-amateur singing group died a year later. He began singing at an early age in a church choir. In 1921, he enrolled in Hampton University in Virginia following in his father's footsteps. After studying mechanical engineering there for a time, he began a career in concert singing. He was mentored by composer R. Nathaniel Dett, musical director at Hampton University, who recommended him as having instinctive musical feeling. His work with Dett included touring the country performing the composer's songs.

Acclaimed tenor Roland Hayes also supported his pursuit of a career in singing. His performances were noted by The New York Times as early as 1925. He received a scholarship to study at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio. Pankey went on to study in Boston at the Hubbard Studios and the School of Music at Boston University. He also studied voice in New York with John Alan Haughton. He worked at many jobs to support his education.

The positive reception of 1930 a recital he gave at Jordan Hall in Boston encouraged him to study abroad and that year he traveled to Europe. He studied at Neues Wiener Konservatorium in Vienna under Theo Lierhaemer. A 1931 performance in Vienna drew the attention of the Austrian press. Josef Reitler wrote in the Neue Freie Presse, "He is the possessor of a musical soul, which in glowing manner is able to approach Schubert and Richard Strauss with a feeling and understanding worthy of a born German. Colorful expression is skillfully combined with a natural mellowness of voice." In the Wiener Allgemeine Zeitung Robert Konta wrote that he, "sings Schubert and Richard Strauss with an overwhelming intensity of feeling and forms them into great unforgettable experiences." going on to opine, "There are evidently black men who are messengers of culture at its greatest."

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