Grace Bumbry

Opera singer Grace Bumbry – born January 4, 1937, in St. Louis Missouri – was considered one of the greatest mezzo-sopranos of her generation and was the first African American to perform on stage at the Bayreuth Festival in 1961. Growing up in a modest household, she began taking piano lessons at the age of seven. After seeing opera singer Marian Anderson in concert, Grace Bumbry decided that she wanted to pursue a career as a singer. After winning a talent contest at the age of 17, she was denied a scholarship at the St. Louis Institute of Music because of her race. She was then given the opportunity to perform on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts radio program, which then led to the opportunity to study at Boston University College of Fine Arts. Grace Bumbry then studied under German dramatic soprano Lotte Lehmann at Northwest University in Evanston, Illinois and then in Santa Barbara, California in the late 1950s. She also took summer courses at the Academy of Music in Montecito, California. She then studied in Paris, France under Pierre Bernac. Grace Bumbry successfully auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera in New York and made her debut in Paris in 1960 in Verdi’s Aida. Signing with the Basel Opera in Switzerland, she appeared in various productions over the next four seasons including Bizet’s Carmen, Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Delila, Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, and Verdi’s Macbeth. Grace Bumbry came to international prominence in 1961 when she was cast by Wieland Wagner – the grandson of composer Richard Wagner – to perform as Venus in a production of Tannhäuser at the Bayreuth Festival. This performance was significant since she was the first African American to perform on the festival’s stage. Nicknamed ‘Black Venus,’ she returned to perform on the stage in 1962 and 1963. After a visit to the White House, Grace Bumbry she then performed in many productions at prestigious venues and festivals around the world. Her most famous productions included the musical Carmen Jones, which took place in 1962 at the Covent Garden Opera in London, England. In 1965, she appeared as Princess Eboli in Verdi’s Don Carlos at the Metropolitan Opera. In the 1970s, she tackled soprano roles in Mascagni’s Cavalliera Rusticana, R. Strauss’ Salomé, Puccini’s Tosca, Verdi’s Il trovatore and La forza del destino, Janáček’s Jenůfa, and many others. Along with her acclaimed performances, she used her influence in the 1990s to create the Grace Bumbry Black Musical Heritage Ensemble which dedicated itself to preserving and performing Negro spirituals. She also began judging competitions, teaching, and giving recitals. Grace Bumbry returned to opera in 2010 to perform Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. She also performed in Bernstein’s Candide in Berlin, Germany (2012) and Tchaikovsky’s Pique dame in Vienna, Austria (2013). Grace Bumbry suffered a heart attack in 2022 during a plane flight from her home in Vienna to New York, and never fully recovered. She died on May 7, 2023, at the age of 86. Her recorded legacy is preserved in original releases such as Grace Bumbry Singt Lieder von Schubert, Brahms, Wolf und Strauss (1962), Carmen Jones (1963), Verdi: Die Macht des Schicksals (1966), and Casta Diva (1970) as well as compilations including Early Recordings: Oratorio - Opera – Lieder (2005) and The Art of Grace Bumbry (2020).

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