Everyday is always a great day to learn something new!!! So with it being Black History month lets try to talk about folks that we may not know so well. We always give props to those that have paved the way but its mostly the most famous ones. So HAWTies lets take this learning journey together, yes I missed the first day of the month don't kill me OK HAWTies........
Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She joined a junior church choir at the age of six, and applied to an all-white music school after her graduation from high school in 1921, but was turned away because she was black. The woman working the admissions counter replied "We don't take colored" when she tried to apply. Consequently, she continued her singing studies with a private teacher.
She debuted at the New York Philharmonic on August 26, 1925 and scored an immediate success, also with the critics. In 1928, she sang for the first time at Carnegie Hall. Her reputation was further advanced by her tour though Europe in the early 1930s. The Finnish composer Jean Sibelius dedicated his Solitude to her. In 1935 impresario Sol Hurok took over as her manager and was with her for the rest of her performing career.
Easter Sunday, 1939 she sung "The Star Spangled Banner" at the dedication of a mural commemorating her free public concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in DC after the DAR refused to let her sing at Constitution Hall.
On January 7, 1955, Anderson broke the color barrier by becoming the first African-American to perform with the New York Metropolitan Opera. On that occasion, she sang the part of Ulrica in Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera. The occasion was bittersweet as Anderson, at age 58, was no longer in her prime vocally.
In 1958 she was officially designated delegate to the United Nations, a formalization of her role as "goodwill ambassador" of the U.S. she played earlier, and in 1972 she was awarded the UN Peace Prize.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment