Leontyne Price is largely regarded as the first African-American opera singer to gain worldwide recognition. Ms. Price, an award-winning and beloved vocalist, didn’t set out to be an opera singer at first, but changed course much to the world’s benefit.
Price was born Mary Violet Leontyne Price on February 10, 1927 in Laurel, Miss. Her working-class parents instilled a love of music in her. Her father, a plumber, and her mother, a midwife and singer, brought Price a piano was she was a girl and enrolled her in classes. That led to Price singing in a local church throughout elementary and high school.
Price enrolled in Wilberforce University with the intention of becoming a music teacher. However, her standout glee club performances led teachers to suggest that Price study voice. Her abilities as a singer grew and Price was later awarded a full scholarship to the Julliard School of Music in New York. Singers Betty Allen and Paul Robeson put on a benefit concert that led to Price’s admission to the famed school.
After making her opera debut in 1952 in a school production of Verdi’s Falstaff play, Price starred in a run for Porgy and Bess which went on a U.S. and European tour. Price, inspired as a teenager by vocalist Marian Anderson, focused on singing recitals only and didn’t at first consider operatic work. But the grand stage of the opera kept calling, and Price made her debut in 1957 in San Francisco.
Despite her star turn, Price still had her share of skeptics. When Price debuted at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House in 1961 her abilities could no longer be denied. A “lyric soprano,” Price’s “Il Trovatore” performance was so well-received that the audience gave her and the troupe a rousing 35-minute ovation – although Price and her people say it was actually 42 minutes.
Price went on to star in Antony and Cleopatra in 1966, but the opera was not deemed a huge success. By the late 1960s, Price shied away from doing large opera numbers and instead became a recitalist. Opera stage work dwindled even further in the 1970s, although Price performed internationally in solo outings in many of the world’s top festivals.
Price performed the lead role in Aida for the last time on January 3, 1985. The event was televised on PBS, and is regarded as one of her signature performances. After her official retirement, Price worked sporadically for the next 12 years.
Price has won 19 Grammy Awards, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of Arts, along with a host of other awards and dozens of honorary degrees.
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