Grace Bumbry
American opera singer
Died when: 86 years 123 days (1036 months)Star Sign: Capricorn
Grace Melzia Bumbry (born January 4, 1937), an American opera singer, was considered one of the leading mezzo-sopranos of her generation, as well as a major soprano earlier in her career.
She is a member of a pioneering generation of African-American opera and classical singers, beginning with Leontyne Price and including Martina Arroyo, Shirley Verrett, Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle, and Reri Grist), who succeeded Marian Anderson in the worlds of opera and classical music.
They paved the way for future generations of African-American opera and concert singers.Bumbry's voice was rich and dynamic, possessing a wide range, and was capable of producing a very distinctive plangent tone.
In her prime, she also possessed good agility and bel canto technique (see for example her renditions of the 'Veil Song' from Verdi's Don Carlo in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as her Ernani from the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1984).
She was particularly noted for her fiery temperament and dramatic intensity on stage.More recently, she has also become known as a recitalist and interpreter of lieder, and as a teacher.
From the late 1980s on, she concentrated her career in Europe, rather than in the US.A long-time resident of Switzerland, she now makes her home in Salzburg, Austria.
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American opera singer
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American opera singer
American opera singer