{"id":31722,"date":"2023-08-24T10:35:15","date_gmt":"2023-08-24T08:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/?p=7427"},"modified":"2023-08-24T15:39:56","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T13:39:56","slug":"who-was-jessye-norman-the-trailblazing-opera-singer-and-diversity-champion","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/who-was-jessye-norman-the-trailblazing-opera-singer-and-diversity-champion\/","title":{"rendered":"Who was Jessye Norman, the trailblazing opera singer and diversity champion?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meet the iconic, game-changing American soprano, Jessye Norman <\/p>

By Freya Parr\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 24 August 2023 at 08:35 AM<\/p>

\n\n

US soprano Jessye Norman, who died in 2019 at the age of 74, will forever be remembered as a trailblazing opera singer and champion of diversity in the arts.<\/strong><\/p>\n\nOne of the few successful black opera singers in a predominantly white industry, Jessye Norman performed on the stages of La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera many times throughout her illustrious career.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a class=\"standard-card-new__article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/best-black-composers-you-should-know-about\/\">The best black composers you should know about<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nNorman had a uniquely rich voice, which was close to a mezzo-soprano in tone, but with the range of a soprano. She was renowned for both her voice and her powerful stage presence, and embraced music from across the generations and genres, championing and performing works by composers from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/topic\/richard-wagner\">Wagner<\/strong><\/a> to Duke Ellington.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a class=\"standard-card-new__article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/an-introduction-to-soprano-caterina-jarboro-the-first-female-black-singer-to-perform-on-a-us-opera-stage\/\">Caterina Jarboro: the first female black singer to perform on a US opera stage<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nBorn in Augusta, Georgia into a family of amateur performers, Norman sang in church from a young age, listening to weekly broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera. After winning a scholarship to Howard University in Washington DC, she went onto study at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and later at the University of Michigan.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/article\/20-greatest-sopranos-all-time\">The 20 greatest sopranos of all time<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/article\/10-female-composers-you-should-know\">10 female composers you should know<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nNorman\u2019s career was kickstarted when she won the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, resulting in a three-year contract with Deutsche Oper Berlin. Following her operatic debut as Ellisabeth in Wagner\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/guide-wagners-tannh-user\/\">Tannh\u00e4user<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>with the company, she was\u00a0established as a major figure in the European opera scene.<\/p>\nHer career flourished in the following years, and she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in New York in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/hector-berlioz\/\">Berlioz<\/strong><\/a>\u2018s\u00a0Les Troyens\u00a0<\/em>in 1983. She went on to perform more than 80 times with the company.<\/p>\nNorman sang at the presidential inaugurations of Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, as well as at the 60th birthday celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II in 1986.<\/p>\n<iframe title=\"Jessye Norman sings "Amazing Grace" at the 1995 Kennedy Center Honors for Sidney Poitier\" width=\"200\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PFFKk3FRr44?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\nIn 1997, she became the youngest person in history to be awarded the presigious Kennedy Center Honor. This was far from her only accolade, with four Grammy Awards (including a lifetime achievement award) and the National Medal of Arts also to her name.<\/p>\nA celebrated recitalist and dramatic opera singer, Norman was particularly renowned for her interpretations of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/topic\/richard-strauss\">Strauss<\/strong><\/a>\u2018s songs and operatic roles in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/topic\/georges-bizet\">Bizet<\/strong><\/a>\u2018s\u00a0Carmen\u00a0<\/em>and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/topic\/giuseppe-verdi\">Verdi<\/strong><\/a>\u2018s\u00a0Aida.<\/em><\/p>\n<iframe title=\"Richard Strauss - Vier Letzte Lieder | Four Last Songs | Jessye Norman, Wolfgang Sawallisch [HD]\" width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RdRq7ynfkHs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\nJessye Norman sings Strauss\u2019s Four Last Songs<\/em><\/p>\nIn the latter part of her career, Norman extended her repertoire beyond operatic roles, performing music by Duke Ellington scored for jazz combo, string quartet and piano. She also released a jazz crossover album, featuring the songs of French composer Michel Legrand with a jazz trio accompaniment.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a class=\"standard-card-new__article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/best-jazz-singers-ever\/\">15 best jazz singers ever<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"standard-card-new__article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/female-jazz-musicians\/\">Greatest female jazz musicians: 12 of the best<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nDirector Robert Wilson spoke to\u00a0BBC Music Magazine\u00a0<\/em>in 2001 in a profile of Jessye Norman, saying, \u2018One of the beautiful things about Jessye is that she\u2019s a formal artist. When I first saw her in the 70s in Paris, she was on stage with other singers, and the others looked like they were waiting for a bus.<\/p>\n\u2018But Jessye, the way she stood was as beautiful as when she opened her mouth to sing. She\u2019s subtle, highly intelligent, has good ideas of what she wants and what looks good.\u2019<\/p>\nIn later life, Norman dedicated herself to giving disadvantaged children the opportunity of an arts education, opening the Jessye Norman School of the Arts in Augusta in 2003.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/article\/20-greatest-operas-all-time\">The 20 greatest operas of all time<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/article\/six-great-contemporary-operas\">Six great contemporary operas<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nWords by Freya Parr<\/em><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Meet the iconic, game-changing American soprano, Jessye Norman <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":31723,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/08\/who-was-jessye-norman-the-trailblazing-opera-singer-and-diversity-champion.jpg",625,350,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/08\/who-was-jessye-norman-the-trailblazing-opera-singer-and-diversity-champion-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/08\/who-was-jessye-norman-the-trailblazing-opera-singer-and-diversity-champion-300x168.jpg",300,168,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/08\/who-was-jessye-norman-the-trailblazing-opera-singer-and-diversity-champion.jpg",625,350,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/08\/who-was-jessye-norman-the-trailblazing-opera-singer-and-diversity-champion.jpg",625,350,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/08\/who-was-jessye-norman-the-trailblazing-opera-singer-and-diversity-champion.jpg",625,350,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/08\/who-was-jessye-norman-the-trailblazing-opera-singer-and-diversity-champion.jpg",625,350,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Meet the iconic, game-changing American soprano, Jessye Norman","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/31722"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}