This article is about the American opera singer. For the British politician, see Jesse Norman.
Jessye Norman
Norman in 2014
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
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", and wrote that "it has enormous dimensions, reaching backward and upward. It opens onto unexpected vistas. It contains sunlit rooms, narrow passageways, cavernous halls."[1]
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.
Norman sang and recorded recitals of music by Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler, Ernest Chausson and Francis Poulenc, among others. In 1984, she won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo, the first of five Grammy Awards that she would collect during her career. Apart from several honorary doctorates and other awards, she received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Medal of Arts, the Légion d'honneur, and was named a member of the British Royal Academy of Music. In 1990, UN secretary-general Javier Pérez de Cuéllar named her Honorary Ambassador to the United Nations.
Jessye Mae Norman (September 15, 1945 – September 30, 2019) was an American opera singer and recitalist. She was able to perform dramatic soprano roles...
following lists note recordings in opera and recital of soprano JessyeNorman. Norman sang many roles in audio recordings of complete operas: Bartók,...
such as Enrico Caruso, Rosa Ponselle, Joan Sutherland, Maria Callas, JessyeNorman, Ewa Podleś, and Plácido Domingo have voices that allow them to sing...
Jessye is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Eva Jessye (1895–1992), American conductor JessyeNorman (1945–2019)...
Mintzer Ross Mintzer Elizabeth Fischer Monastero Dermot Mulroney - actor JessyeNorman - opera singer and Grammy Lifetime Achievement award winner Sean Osborn...
a number of other musicians, including Yo-Yo Ma, Pinchas Zukerman, JessyeNorman, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Isaac Stern, and Yuri Temirkanov at the 150th anniversary...
The JessyeNorman School of the Arts is a free, comprehensive after-school arts program serving mostly disadvantaged middle and high school students in...
Kaufmann Simon Keenlyside Emma Kirkby Anna Netrebko Birgit Nilsson JessyeNorman Anne Sofie von Otter Luciano Pavarotti Leontyne Price Elisabeth Schwarzkopf...
Chelsea Clinton, Tamara Mellon, Jon Bon Jovi, Andre Agassi, will.i.am, JessyeNorman, Prince Albert II of Monaco, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Prince Andrew, The...
Staple Singers 2006 David Bowie, Cream, Merle Haggard, Robert Johnson, JessyeNorman, Richard Pryor, The Weavers 2007 Joan Baez, Booker T. & the M.G.'s,...
Metropolitan Orchestra augmented by two harpists, sopranos Kathleen Battle and JessyeNorman, the chorus of the Greek National Opera, and, for the concert only,...
Marvin Gaye. After the arrival of Holland–Dozier–Holland and the team of Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, Robinson was eclipsed as a top writer and...
have performed it include Mathé Altéry, Régine Crespin, Nicolai Gedda, JessyeNorman, Marie Devellereau and Angela Gheorghiu. More recently jazz vocalist...
Four Songs on Text and Spirits In the Well (1997) were written for JessyeNorman with music by Richard Danielpour, and, alongside Maya Angelou and Clarissa...
Staple Singers 2006 David Bowie Cream Merle Haggard Robert Johnson JessyeNorman Richard Pryor The Weavers 2007 Joan Baez Booker T. & the M.G.'s Maria...
to recitals and recordings with jazz musicians. In 1990, Battle and JessyeNorman performed a program of spirituals at Carnegie Hall with James Levine...
quote needs a citation] The sopranos Renée Fleming, Kiri Te Kanawa, JessyeNorman, Leona Mitchell, Barbara Bonney, Sondra Radvanovsky, the mezzo-sopranos...
Staple Singers 2006 David Bowie Cream Merle Haggard Robert Johnson JessyeNorman Richard Pryor The Weavers 2007 Joan Baez Booker T. & the M.G.'s Maria...
and Maria Tallchief 1997 – Lauren Bacall, Bob Dylan, Charlton Heston, JessyeNorman, and Edward Villella 1998 – Fred Ebb and John Kander, Willie Nelson...
Staple Singers 2006 David Bowie Cream Merle Haggard Robert Johnson JessyeNorman Richard Pryor The Weavers 2007 Joan Baez Booker T. & the M.G.'s Maria...
Foundation 2009 Bob Dylan Clint Eastwood Milton Glaser Maya Lin Rita Moreno JessyeNorman Joseph P. Riley Jr. Frank Stella Michael Tilson Thomas John Williams...
with Norman and others, including Norman's co-writer Al Pyfrom, resulted in a 24-minute tape of Marley performing several of his own and Norman-Pyfrom's...
Foundation 2009 Bob Dylan Clint Eastwood Milton Glaser Maya Lin Rita Moreno JessyeNorman Joseph P. Riley Jr. Frank Stella Michael Tilson Thomas John Williams...
Staple Singers 2006 David Bowie Cream Merle Haggard Robert Johnson JessyeNorman Richard Pryor The Weavers 2007 Joan Baez Booker T. & the M.G.'s Maria...
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