{"id":7821,"date":"2023-10-05T08:59:54","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T13:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/?p=7821"},"modified":"2023-10-05T09:02:45","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T14:02:45","slug":"leontyne-price-and-racism-in-opera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/2023\/10\/05\/leontyne-price-and-racism-in-opera\/","title":{"rendered":"Leontyne Price and Racism in Opera"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Leontyne Price made her Metropolitan Opera debut in January 1961 as Leonora in Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore<\/em>, pictured here.<\/p><\/div>\n

Leontyne Price is known as the first Black leading performer in opera. She was the first Black prina donna to gain an international reputation and become a singing superstar in the world of opera. Born as Mary Violet Leontyne Price on February 10, 1927, she grew up singing in the church choir and only decided to pursue music after she graduated from the College of Education and Industrial Arts, now Central State University.1<\/sup><\/a> She then attended the Julliard School of Music and began her singing career on Broadway in 1952. She made her operatic debut in 1957 and continued traveling the world singing opera until 1985 when she switched to more recital work.2<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 Her role in Verdi\u2019s <\/span>Aida<\/span><\/i> remains her best-known work, and she is widely considered the most stunning <\/span>Aida<\/span><\/i> this world will ever see (see video below). Price was an incredibly accomplished artist and received numerous awards, including 20 Grammys, the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964), the Kennedy Center Honor (1980), the National Medal of the Arts (1985), and is a National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honoree. 3<\/sup><\/a> Today, at age 96, she continues to inspire upcoming generations of Black classical musicians.<\/span><\/p>\n