An accomplished classical composer, Noel Da Costa (1929–2002) was born in Lagos, Nigeria to Jamaican parents, and came to the United States from Jamaica at age 12. At Columbia University, he received the Seidl Fellowship in Music Composition. He also received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Florence with Italian composer Luigi Dallapiccola. A founding member of the Society of Black Composers, Da Costa took inspiration from the American classical tradition as well as from spirituals and African folk music.