Nicholas L’Ouverture Gerren was born in Kansas City, Kansas on March 10, 1912, to Nicholas Charles and Lucy Anetta (Moore) Gerren. Gerren graduated from Sumner High School and entered the University of Kansas [KU] in 1930, where he became the first African American to play for the University’s symphony orchestra. Gerren was awarded bachelor’s degrees in music in 1935 and music education in 1947, as well as master’s and doctorate degrees in music education in 1948 and 1953, all from the University of Kansas. Gerren’s graduate work was largely influenced by E. Thayer Gaston, KU professor and founder of the University’s graduate music therapy program, the first of its kind in the nation.

In 1935, Gerren won a post-baccalaureate scholarship to study violin in the Soviet Union at the Moscow Conservatory of Music, where he also performed with the Moscow Radio Theatre Symphony Orchestra. Gerren returned to the United States in 1937, teaching music for the Kansas City, Kansas, School District and Prairie View State College, Prairie View, Texas, until he was called into the service of the United States Army in 1942. He married Cora Madeline Haith on June 7, 1944 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Upon his discharge from the Army in 1946, Gerren launched a distinguished career in music education, teaching and conducting orchestras, ensembles and choirs at several Midwestern colleges and universities. He retired from Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio, in 1977, after serving five years as Dean of the School of Music. Throughout the remainder of his life, Gerren remained active in promoting educational and civic programs in partnership with federal and local governments. Nicholas Gerren died on December 10, 2002, in Xenia, Ohio.