An Uphill Battle: Understanding the Paucity of Opportunities for Blacks in Opera Item Type Electronic Thesis; text Authors Love, Vicki P. Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 02/10/2021 14:10:01 Item License http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/144572 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partiai fulfillment of requirements for a degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. The University of Arizona Elecfronic Theses and Dissertations Reproduction and Distribution Rights Form Name: Love, Vicki P Degree title (eg BA, BS, BSE, BSB, BFA): BM Honors area (eg Molecular and Cellular Biology, English, Studio Art): Vocal Performance Date thesis submitted to Honors College: 5 / 6 / 2011 Title of Honors thesis: An Uphili Battle: Understanding the Paucity of Opportunities for Blacks in Opera :The University of Arizona Library I hereby grant to the University of Arizona Library Release the nonexclusive worldwide right to reproduce and distribute my dissertation or thesis and abstract (herein, the "licensed materials"), in whole or in part, in any and all media of distribution and in any format in existence now or developed in the future. 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I acknowledge that University of Arizona Library may elect not to distribute my dissertation or thesis in digital format if, in its reasonable judgment, it believes all such rights have not been secured. /,ir,i Signed: / 7 oate: " 5- 3* doit An Uphill Battle: Understanding the Paucity of Opportunities for Blacks in Opera Table of Contents Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................. 1 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................. 2 Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 3 Statement of Problem ....................................................................................................................... 3 Purpose of Study .............................................................................................................................. 4 Importance of Study ......................................................................................................................... 5 Scope of Study................................................................................................................................... 5 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 2: Black Classical Singer in the Nineteenth -Century .......................................................... 8 Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield ............................................................................................................. 8 The Hyer Sisters .............................................................................................................................. 10 Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones .................................................................................................... 10 Tennessee Jubilee Singers .............................................................................................................. 11 Chapter 3: Struggle for Acceptance ................................................................................................... 13 Todd Duncan .................................................................................................................................. 13 Marian Anderson ............................................................................................................................ 14 Robert McFerrin Sr. ........................................................................................................................ 15 Mattiwilda Dobbs ........................................................................................................................... 17 Leontyne Price ................................................................................................................................ 18 George Shirley................................................................................................................................. 19 Chapter 4: Contemporary Challenges............................................................................................... 21 Simon Estes ..................................................................................................................................... 21 Denyce Graves ................................................................................................................................ 22 Nicole Cabell ................................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 5: Summary of Challenges................................................................................................... 24 Stereotypes ...................................................................................................................................... 24 Complexion ..................................................................................................................................... 26 Black Male Dynamic ....................................................................................................................... 27 Believability..................................................................................................................................... 27 Black Acceptance ............................................................................................................................ 28 Closing Comments ......................................................................................................................... 29 Sources................................................................................................................................................. 31 Abstract The fight for Black acceptance in Opera has been more than the right to sing on the stages and halls of America, it was a fight for acceptance in one of the last institutions steeped in a tradition of segregation. ―Opera, with its pantheon of heroines and gods and the special adulation that divas seem to invite, was one of the last musical bastions to remain segregated.‖ (Stein, 2009) As a result of being barred from Opera‘s stages and halls, many black classical singers of the nineteenth and twentieth century‘s spent their careers fighting for acceptance. As the years have progressed, social norms may have changed, and racial insensitivity may have waned, but when it comes to performing major operatic roles, not much is different for today‘s black classical trained singer. Chapter 1: Introduction In 2007, while at an audition for the Lyric Opera of Chicago‘s production of Porgy and Bess the concept for this paper was born. I had auditioned several times before but this audition was different. In my experience, it was not uncommon to see less than five black singers present at auditions for the Lyric. Instead the Lyric‘s audition for Porgy and Bess had a turnout of more than 60 talented black singers. “Porgy and Bess premiered in New York in the fall of 1935 and featured an entire cast of classically trained African- American singers—a daring and visionary artistic choice at the time.‖(Hamm, 1987: 495). Based on the 1920 novel Porgy written by Dubose Heyward and the play co- written with Dubose‘s wife Dorothy Heyward, the story captures black life in the slums of South Carolina. As I continued to listen to the auditions one after the other, I realized the paucity of black singers in Opera wasn‘t because of a lack of black talent. In fact the talent at this audition had far exceeded that of my previous auditions. I had seen first hand how any company can fill a stage with black talent, whenever it produces Porgy and Bess. I was left asking why I hadn‘t seen the same type of representation in other productions. It was apparent there must be another reason. Statement of Problem Curiously, fewer Blacks are visible on opera stages today than a decade ago. In the 2009-2010 season, contemporary classical soprano, Nicole Cabell, was the only black singer scheduled to take the lead role at the two biggest opera houses: the Metropolitan Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. At the Metropolitan Opera 125th anniversary broadcast on March 15, 2009 there were no Black singers