Marian Anderson was born on February 27, 1897 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her parents were African American Christians. All the Anderson family went to the Union Baptist Church in South Philadelphia. She first sang in public when she was six years old. Anderson went to Stanton Grammar School. Her family could not afford to send her to high school. They did not have enough money to pay for music lessons either. Until she was sixteen Anderson taught herself to play the piano and violin. The pastor of Anderson's church and other leaders of the black community raised money for Anderson to go to high school and have music lessons. After high school, Marian applied to an all-white music school, the Philadelphia Music Academy. She was rejected for being black. In 1925, when she was 23 years old, Anderson won a singing competition.