Gloria Davy facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gloria Davy
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Gloria Davy in 1958. Photographed by Carl van Vechten.
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| Born | March 29, 1931 |
| Died | November 28, 2012 (aged 81) |
| Occupation | Singer |
Gloria Davy (born March 29, 1931, in Brooklyn, New York – died November 28, 2012, in Geneva, Switzerland) was an amazing singer. She was a soprano, which is a type of female opera singer with a high voice. Gloria Davy had a successful career singing in operas and concerts all over the world from the 1950s to the 1980s.
She was especially famous for playing the main character in Giuseppe Verdi's opera, Aida. She sang this role in many of the world's biggest opera houses. In 1958, she made history as the first black artist to perform the role of Aida at the famous Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
Gloria Davy was one of the first African-American singers to become widely successful. She helped break down barriers of racial prejudice in the opera world. She first gained attention in 1952 when she won the Marian Anderson Award. Then, from 1954 to 1956, she toured internationally as Bess in the opera Porgy and Bess. After that, she was invited to perform with major orchestras and opera houses in the United States and Europe.
In 1959, she married Herman Penningsfield, a stockbroker from Switzerland. She then moved from New York to live in Geneva, Switzerland. From then on, most of her singing career was based in Europe. She only made occasional appearances in the United States. After 1973, she focused more on concert singing, though she still performed in operas sometimes. From 1984 to 1997, she taught singing at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. She passed away in Geneva at the age of 81.
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Her Early Life and Training
Gloria Davy was born in Brooklyn, New York. Her parents were immigrants from the island of Saint Vincent in the Windward Islands. Her father worked for the New York City subway system.
She went to The High School of Music & Art in New York City and graduated in 1951. After that, she studied at the Juilliard School, a famous music school. She earned a degree in vocal performance in 1953. At Juilliard, her teacher was Belle Julie Soudant, who also taught other opera singers. Gloria Davy stayed at Juilliard for another year to study opera even more. In 1954, she performed in the first U.S. shows of Richard Strauss's opera Capriccio with the Juilliard Opera. Later, she also studied singing in Milan, Italy.
While she was still a student, Gloria Davy won several important competitions. In 1952, she received the Marian Anderson Award. In 1953, she won a vocal competition that led to her first professional concert. She performed at Town Hall in New York City in June 1953. This also led to a contract to perform with The Little Orchestra Society. A music critic named Ross Parmenter said she was "a singer of unusual technical skill" with a "soft, clear, fresh, and warm" voice.
Starting Her Career
Gloria Davy's first professional stage appearance was on Broadway in 1952. She was in a show called Four Saints in Three Acts. The next year, she was in another Broadway show, My Darlin' Aida.
Performing Porgy and Bess
In May 1954, Gloria Davy took over the role of Bess in a North American tour of George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess. This tour was very successful. After touring North America, she went with the show to Europe. They performed in cities like Venice, Paris, and London. The company also visited the Cairo Opera House in Egypt. She continued with this international tour until 1956, performing in the Middle East, Africa, Russia, and Latin America.
Singing Aida and the Metropolitan Opera
While on the Porgy and Bess tour, Gloria Davy met a famous conductor named Victor de Sabata in Milan, Italy. He was so impressed with her that he offered her the main role in Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida at La Scala, a very famous opera house. Unfortunately, political problems in Italy caused her performance to be canceled. Her first time singing Aida ended up being in 1957 at the Opéra de Nice in France. Later that year, she sang Aida in a concert with the New York Philharmonic in New York.
Her performance in New York caught the attention of the Metropolitan Opera. On February 12, 1958, Gloria Davy made her debut at the Met as Aida. This was a very important moment because she was the first black artist to perform the role of Aida at this famous opera house. She was also only the fourth black artist to ever perform on the Met stage. She sang in 15 performances at the Met over four seasons. She also played other roles, like Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Nedda in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci. Her last performance at the Met was in November 1961.
Later Career and Teaching
After leaving the Met in 1961, Gloria Davy's career moved to Europe. This was because she had married a Swiss stockbroker in 1959 and made her home in Geneva, Switzerland. She started performing more in Europe in 1959, singing Aida at the Vienna State Opera and the Royal Opera, London.
From 1961 to 1968, Gloria Davy was a regular artist at the Berlin State Opera. She sang leading roles in operas by Verdi and Puccini. She also performed as a guest artist at other opera houses across Europe. She sang in Brussels, Milan, and other cities. In Milan, she performed in several operas, including Don Giovanni and Madama Butterfly. After 1973, she focused more on concert singing, but still made some opera appearances.
Even though she lived in Geneva, Gloria Davy taught singing at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University from 1984 to 1997. She passed away in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 28, 2012, when she was 81 years old. She left behind a legacy as a pioneering and talented opera singer.
