Shirley Verrett facts for kids
Shirley Verrett (born May 31, 1931 – died November 5, 2010) was an amazing American opera singer. She started as a mezzo-soprano, which is a female singer with a middle vocal range. Later, she successfully sang roles for a soprano, which is a female singer with a higher vocal range. Shirley Verrett was very famous from the late 1960s through the 1990s. She was especially known for singing in operas by famous composers like Verdi and Donizetti.
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Early Life and Learning Music
Shirley Verrett was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, into an African-American family. Her family were devout Seventh-day Adventists. She grew up in Los Angeles, California. Shirley loved to sing in church and showed musical talent from a young age. At first, her family wasn't sure about her having a singing career.
Later, Shirley Verrett studied music with talented teachers like Anna Fitziu and Marion Szekely Freschl. She attended the Juilliard School in New York, which is a very famous music school. In 1961, she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, a big competition for opera singers.
Becoming a Star: Her International Career
Shirley Verrett's career took off quickly. In 1958, she made her first appearance at the New York City Opera. The next year, 1959, she performed in Europe for the first time in Cologne, Germany.
She became very well-known for her role as Carmen in the opera Carmen. She sang this role in Spoleto in 1962, at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1963, and again at the New York City Opera in 1964. In 1966, she performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London.
Shirley Verrett was also part of important television events. In 1962, she sang in the first concert ever shown on TV from Lincoln Center. She also appeared in the first of Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts televised from that same place.
Her debut at the famous Metropolitan Opera was in 1968, again as Carmen. In 1969, she sang at La Scala in Milan, Italy, which is another very famous opera house.
Singing Many Roles
Shirley Verrett was amazing because she could sing many different types of roles. As a mezzo-soprano, she sang parts like:
- Cassandra and Didon in Berlioz's Les Troyens (she even sang both roles in the same show at the Met!)
- Ulrica, Amneris, Eboli, and Azucena in operas by Verdi
- Dalila in Saint-Saëns' Samson and Dalila
- Elisabetta I in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda
- Orpheus in Gluck's Orpheus
Later in her career, starting in the late 1970s, she began to sing soprano roles. This is a big change for an opera singer! Some of her famous soprano roles included:
- Lady Macbeth in Macbeth
- Tosca in the opera Tosca
- Norma in the opera Norma
- Aida in the opera Aida
- Desdemona in Otello
Her performance as Tosca was even shown on TV by PBS in December 1978. She sang alongside the famous tenor Luciano Pavarotti.
In 1990, Shirley Verrett sang Dido in Les Troyens at the opening of the Opéra Bastille in Paris. She also added a new role, Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana. In 1994, she made her Broadway debut in the musical Carousel, playing the character Nettie Fowler.
After her long singing career, Shirley Verrett became a teacher. In 1996, she joined the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance as a Professor of Voice.
Her Book: I Never Walked Alone
In 2003, Shirley Verrett wrote a book about her life called I Never Walked Alone. In her book, she bravely talked about the racism she faced as a Black person in the world of classical music in America. For example, a famous conductor named Leopold Stokowski invited her to sing with the Houston Symphony in the early 1960s. But he had to cancel the invitation because the orchestra's board refused to have a Black soloist. Stokowski later made it up to her by giving her a special performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Her Family
Shirley Verrett was married twice. First, in 1951, to James Carter. Then, in 1963, she married the artist Lou LoMonaco. She had an adopted daughter named Francesca and a granddaughter.
Her Passing
Shirley Verrett passed away in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on November 5, 2010, at the age of 79. She died from heart failure after an illness.
Honors and Awards
Shirley Verrett received many awards and honors throughout her life for her incredible talent and contributions to music:
- John Hay Whitney Foundation Grant
- Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund scholarship
- Ford Foundation Opera Fellowship
- William Matheus Sullivan Award
- Named an African American Woman of Distinction by Essence Magazine
- Marian Anderson Award (1957)
- Walter W. Naumburg Foundation Award (1958)
- Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (1970) – a French honor for arts and literature
- Achievement Award of the Women's Division of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1975)
- Honorary Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the College of the Holy Cross (1978)
- Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres (1984) – a higher French honor
- Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Northeastern University (1987)
- Honorary Doctor of Music degree from the Juilliard School (2002)
- The Shirley Verrett Award was created at the University of Michigan in 2011 to honor her legacy.
See also
In Spanish: Shirley Verrett para niños
