Leontyne Price:
On January 3, 1985, The First African American To Gain Fame As An International Star Of The Grand Opera, Gave Her Final Performance At The Metropolitan Opera In New York City.
Leontyne Price's Performance Of Aida, Which Was Telecast Live From Lincoln Center, Is Considered The Definitive Modern Operatic Event, Against Which All Others Are Measured. Price Ranks Among The Best Sopranos In The Modern Era and Is Said To Have The Perfect Verdi Voice.
Price Was The First Black Since Marian Anderson To Appear In A Major Role With The Metropolitan Opera. She Debuted At The Met On January 27, 1961, As Leonora In Verdi's II Trovotore. She Received A 42-Minute Standing Ovation For The Performance --- The Longest In Met History.
Born In Laurel, Mississippi, Trained At The Julliard School Of Music And Inspired As A Child By Marian Anderson, Price Won 13 Grammy Awards For Her Recordings And Three Emmy Awards For Her Television Appearances. She Won The NAACP Spingarn Medal In 1965, For Being "The Outstanding Soprano Of Our Era."
"In Order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into It." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr.
