Robert Todd Duncan was born in 1903 in the southern city of Danville,Kentucky. His mother was his first music teacher. As a young man,he continued his music study in Indianapolis,Indiana. 

In 1930,he completed more musical education at Columbia University in New York City. Then he moved to Washington. For fifteen years, he taught music at Howard University in Washington. At that time, not many black musicians were known for writing or performing classical music. Teaching at Howard gave Duncan the chance to share his knowledge of classical European music with a mainly black student population. He taught special ways to present the music.These special ways became known as the Duncan Technique. 

Besides teaching,Duncan sang in several operas with performers who were all black. But it seemed that he always would be known mainly as a concert artist. However,his life took a different turn in the middle 1930s. At that time, the famous American music writer George Gershwin was looking for someone to play a leading part in his new work Porgy and Bess. The music critic of the New York Times newspaper suggested Todd Duncan. Duncan had almost decided not to try for the part as he knew it would not be easy to get it. But he changed his mind. He sang a piece from an Italian opera for Gershwin. He had sung only a few minutes when Gershwin offered him the part. He became famous because of the part in Porgy and Bess. 

Todd Duncan gained fame as an opera singer and concert artist. But his greatest love in music was teaching. When he stopped teaching at Howard,he continued giving singing lessons in his Washington home until the week before his death.

Answer this series of questions:

1. Where did Duncan teach?
2. Was that a college?
3. Where?
4. What race were most of the students?
5. What subject did he teach?
6. What kind did he specialize in?
7. Was there a lot of black that were into this at the time?
8. Where was he born?
9. When?
10. Who began his music education?
11. When did he study in Indianapolis?
12. Where did he go for college?
13. What kind of singer was he?
14. What famous musical was he a part of?
15. Who wrote that?
16. Why did he almost not try out?
17. What kind of work did he chose for his audition song?
18. What job did he love the most?
19. Was he still teaching when he died?
1. Howard
2. Yes
3. Washington
4. Mainly black.
5. Music.
6. Classical European music
7. No
8. Danville,Kentucky.
9. 1903
10. His mother.
11. As a young man.
12. Columbia University
13. opera
14. Porgy and Bess
15. George Gershwin
16. He knew it would not be easy to get it.
17. A piece from an Italian opera for Gershwin.
18. Teaching.
19. Until the week before.
Robert Todd Duncan föddes 1903 i den södra staden Danville, Kentucky. Hans mor var hans första musiklärare. Som ung fortsatte han sitt musikstudium i Indianapolis i Indiana. 1930 avslutade han mer musikalisk utbildning vid Columbia University i New York. Därefter flyttade han till Washington. Under femton år undervisade han i musik vid Howard University i Washington. Vid den tiden var inte många svarta musiker kända för att ha skrivit eller framfört klassisk musik. Undervisning på Howard gav Duncan chansen att dela med sig av sina kunskaper i klassisk europeisk musik till en huvudsakligen svart studentbefolkning. Han lärde ut speciella sätt att presentera musiken på.Dessa speciella sätt blev kända som Duncan Technique. Förutom att undervisa sjöng Duncan i flera operor med artister som alla var svarta. Men det verkade som om han alltid skulle vara känd främst som konsertartist. Hans liv tog dock en annan vändning i mitten av 1930-talet. Vid den tiden letade den kände amerikanske musikskribenten George Gershwin efter någon som kunde spela en ledande roll i hans nya verk Porgy and Bess. Musikkritikern på tidningen New York Times föreslog Todd Duncan. Duncan hade nästan bestämt sig för att inte försöka för rollen då han visste att det inte skulle bli lätt att få den. Men han ändrade sig. Han sjöng ett stycke ur en italiensk opera för Gershwin. Han hade sjungit bara några minuter när Gershwin erbjöd honom rollen. Han blev känd på grund av rollen i Porgy och Bess. Todd Duncan fick berömmelse som operasångare och konsertartist. Men hans största kärlek i musiken var undervisning. När han slutade undervisa hos Howard fortsatte han att ge sånglektioner i sitt hem i Washington fram till veckan före sin död. Svara på denna rad frågor: 1. Var undervisade Duncan? 2. Var det ett college? 3. Var? 4. Vilken ras var de flesta eleverna? 5. Vilket ämne undervisade han i? 6. Vad för slags specialitet hade han? 7. Var det mycket svart som var inne på det här då? 8. Var föddes han? 9. När? 10. Vem började sin musikutbildning? 11. När studerade han i Indianapolis? 12. Var gick han på college? 13. Vad för slags sångare var han? 14. Vilken berömd musikal var han en del av? 15. Vem skrev det? 16. Varför försökte han nästan inte? 17. Vad för slags arbete valde han till sin auditionslåt? 18. Vilket jobb älskade han mest? 19. Lärde han fortfarande ut när han dog?
Robert Todd Duncan was born in 1903 in the southern town of Danville, Kentucky. His mother was his first music teacher. As a young man, he continued his music study in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1930, he completed more musical education at Columbia University, New York. Then he moved to Washington. For fifteen years he taught music at Howard University, Washington. At that time, not many black musicians were known for writing or performing classical music. Teaching at Howard gave Duncan the chance to share his knowledge of classical European music with a mainly black student population. He taught special ways to present the music.These special ways became known as Duncan Technique. In addition to teaching, Duncan sang in several operas with artists all of whom were black. But it seemed that he would always be known primarily as a concert artist. However, his life took a different turn in the mid-1930s. At that time, noted American music writer George Gershwin was looking for someone who could play a leading role in his new work Porgy and Bess. The music critic of the New York Times newspaper suggested Todd Duncan. Duncan had almost decided not to try for the role as he knew it would not be easy to get it. But he changed his mind. He sang a piece out of an Italian opera for Gershwin. He had sung only a few minutes when Gershwin offered him the role. He became famous due to the role in Porgy and Bess. Todd Duncan gained fame as an opera singer and concert artist. But his greatest love in music was teaching. When he stopped teaching at Howard's, he continued to give vocal lessons at his home in Washington until the week before his death. Answer this line of questions: 1. Where did Duncan teach? 2. Was it a college? 3. Where? 4. What race were most of the students? 5. What subject did he teach? 6. What kind of specialty did he have? 7. Was there a lot of black in this then? 8. Where was he born? 9. When? 10. Who started their music education? 11. When did he study in Indianapolis? 12. Where did he go to college? 13. What kind of singer was he? 14. What famous musical was he part of? 15. Who wrote it? 16. Why didn't he try? 17. What kind of work did he choose for his audition song? 18. What job did he love most? 19. Did he still teach when he died?
1. Howard 2. Ja, det är jag. Washington 4. Mest svart. 5. Musik. 6. Klassisk europeisk musik 7. Nr 8. Danville, Kentucky. 9. 1903 10. Hans mamma. 11. Som ung man. 12. Columbia University 13. opera 14. Porgy och Bess 15. George Gershwin 16. Han visste att det inte skulle vara lätt att få tag på den. 17. Ett stycke ur en italiensk opera för Gershwin. 18. Undervisning. 19. Tills veckan innan.
1. Howard 2. Yes, I am. Washington 4. Mostly black. 5. Music. 6. Classical European Music 7. No. 8. Danville, Kentucky. 9. 1903 10. His mother. 11. As a young man. 12. Columbia University 13. opera 14. Porgy and Bess 15. George Gershwin 16. He knew it wouldn't be easy to get it. 17. A piece from an Italian opera for Gershwin. 18. Teaching. 19. Until the week before.