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Jessye Norman

File:Jessye_Norman-_In_Conversation_with_Tom_Hall_(15977754135)_(cropped).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Jessye Norman

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Also known as Jessye Mae Norman, Jessye Jordan Norman Noble

American opera singer (1945–2019)

OverviewAI-generated

Jessye Norman (1945–2019) was an American soprano and opera singer. Born in Augusta, Georgia, she was of African American descent and held United States citizenship. Her musical work encompassed opera and jazz. She studied at Howard University and the Peabody Institute, and was a student of Pierre Bernac.

Norman received several major honors, including the Spingarn Medal, the National Medal of Arts, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Wolf Prize in Arts. She was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha. Her published works include *Stand Up Straight and Sing!*.

She died on September 30, 2019, in New York City. The cause of death was listed as septic shock and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. Norman had a medical condition involving a spinal cord injury.

Synthesized by Vinony from 41 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, TMDb, Vinony collections, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Works
1

Top works

  • Stand Up Straight and Sing!

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Acting · Augusta, Georgia, USA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jessye Norman (September 15, 1945 – September 30, 2019) was an American opera singer and recitalist. A dramatic soprano, Norman was associated in particular with the Wagnerian repertoire, and with the roles of Sieglinde, Ariadne, Alceste, Leonore, and Cassandre. Apart from receiving several honorary doctorates and other awards, she also received the Grammy…

Known for

  • The Magic of Spirituals — Self (archive footage)2023
  • Mitterrand, président culturel — Self (archive footage)2021
  • Toni Morrison Remembers — Self2015
  • Karajan's Magic and Myth — Self2014
  • Willkommen bei Carmen Nebel — Self2004
  • Vangelis – Mythodea (Music for the NASA Mission: 2001 Mars Odyssey) — Self - Lead Singer2002
  • Im Herzen des Lichts – Die Nacht der Primadonnen — Self2002
  • Beckmann — Self1999
  • Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child — Thunder Mountain Woman (voice)1995
  • Oedipus Rex — Jocasta1993

via TMDB

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Gender
Female
Origin
United States
Active from
1945
Active to
2019
americanamerican sopranoclassicaloperasoprano

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
21,993
Total plays
166,731

Tags

Classicaloperafemale vocalistssopranoUSA

Jessye Mae Norman (Augusta, Georgia, USA, September 15, 1945 - September 30, 2019) was an American opera singer and recitalist. A dramatic soprano, Norman is associated in particular with the Wagnerian repertoire, and with the roles of Sieglinde, Ariadne, Alceste, and Leonore. Norman has been inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and is a Spingarn Medalist. Apart from receiving several honorary doctorates and other awards, she also received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award <a href=

via Last.fm · Jessye Norman

Quotes

  • Herbert von Karajan always rolled out a magic carpet for us, the singers. With him, our musical work took on another dimension.

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Born
Jessye Mae Norman , ( 1945-09-15 ) September 15, 1945, Augusta, Georgia , U.S.
Died
September 30, 2019 (2019-09-30) (aged 74), New York City, U.S.
Education
Howard University ( BM ) Peabody Institute University of Michigan ( MM )
Occupation
Operatic soprano
Years active
1968–2019
Awards
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award National Medal of Arts Honorary Ambassador to the United Nations Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art

via Wikipedia infobox

~30 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Jessye Mae Norman (September 15, 1945 – September 30, 2019) was an American opera singer and recitalist. She was able to perform dramatic soprano roles, but did not limit herself to that voice type. A commanding presence on operatic, concert and recital stages, Norman was associated with roles including Beethoven's Leonore, Wagner's Sieglinde and Kundry, Berlioz's Cassandre and Didon, and Bartók's Judith. The New York Times music critic Edward Rothstein described her voice as a "grand mansion of sound" that "has enormous dimensions, reaching backward and upward. It opens onto unexpected vistas. It contains sunlit rooms, narrow passageways, cavernous halls."

Norman trained at Howard University, the Peabody Institute, and the University of Michigan. Her career began in Europe, where she won the ARD International Music Competition in Munich in 1968, which led to a contract with the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Her operatic début came as Elisabeth in Wagner's Tannhäuser, after which she sang as Verdi's Aida at La Scala in Milan. She made her first operatic appearance in the U.S. in 1982 with the Opera Company of Philadelphia, when cast as Jocasta in Stravinsky's Oedipus rex, and as Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. She went on to sing leading roles with many other companies, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Paris Opera, and the Royal Opera, London. Internationally well known, she was invited to sing at the second inauguration of Ronald Reagan and at Queen Elizabeth II's 60th birthday celebration in 1986 and performed La Marseillaise to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution on July 14, 1989. She sang at the 1996 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Atlanta and for the second inauguration of Bill Clinton in 1997.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Jessye Norman” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (6)