Lena McLin

Lena Mae McLin (née Johnson; September 5, 1928 – October 3, 2023) was an American educator, composer, author, and pastor, who served as a music teacher in the Chicago Public Schools system at Kenwood Academy.

Early life Lena Mae Johnson was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on September 5, 1928. and served as an accompanist to her uncle's choir.

Career Teaching McLin taught in Chicago at Hubbard High School, Harlan High School, and Kenwood Academy. At Kenwood she taught Mandy Patinkin, Deitra Farr, and Kim English.

R. Kelly stated that it was McLin that convinced him to pursue a career in music over basketball, that he considers McLin his "second mother", and that she has remained an influence in his career continuously since his high-school days. With her encouragement, R. Kelly wrote his first song, about poverty in Africa.

McLin officially retired from teaching high school in the mid-1990s but continued teaching voice lessons.

McLin published the book Pulse: A History Of Music in 1977. She also has a library of choral works published by the Neil A. Kjos Music Company.

Music McLin founded the McLin Ensemble in the 1950s, during which time she was serving as the public relations director of the Park District Opera Guild. She and the ensemble made their operatic debut in November 1960 at the Abraham Lincoln Center in Chicago, with a performance of The Cloak.

McLin and her husband Nathanael also founded the McLin Opera Company in the mid-1950s, funded with their own money. The company was named the "nation's leading small opera company" by the Washington Afro-American in 1965. Under her direction the company performed on stage, as well as on radio and television networks.

Her own opera, Oh Freedom, was played at Carnegie Hall in 1983.

McLin composed a wide range of music, including cantatas, masses, and rock operas. Her work has built from both European classical traditions and tradition African-American music, and "works large and small that, in essence, merged European and African-American languages", according to Reich. In all, she has composed more than 400 cantatas, masses, solo and choral arrangements of spirituals, anthems, art songs, gospel songs, rock operas, soul and pop songs, works for piano and orchestra, and electronic music arrangements, including Free at Last: A Portrait Of Martin Luther King Jr. and Gwendolyn Brooks: A Musical Portrait.

Religious service In a resolution passed by the Illinois House of Representatives in 2008, the House stated that: "Prompted by a calling from God on August 9, 1981, Lena McLin started a bible class in a small meeting room in the Conrad Hilton Hotel in downtown Chicago; during the next several months, Dr. McLin fervently studied the Holy Bible and attended divinity training classes and on February 26, 1982, Dr. McLin was officially ordained as a minister; the bible classes became services as Holy Vessel Baptist Church, and Dr. McLin was the pastor and the Minister of Music; and nce established at a permanent address, Dr. McLin implemented outreach programs to help the Hyde Park community; the church began providing food, clothing, bus and train fares, temporary shelter, and Christian counseling to distressed men, women, and children; in 2008, Holy Vessel celebrated its 27th anniversary, and Dr. McLin celebrated her 26th anniversary as an ordained minister of God."

McLin was awarded honorary degrees by the Virginia Union University and Spelman College. She was also a 2003 recipient of the lifetime achievement award from the Chicago Music Awards.

Death Lena McLin died on October 3, 2023, at the age of 95.