Grace Bumby, a Northwestern alumna and one of the great American opera singers of her era, died at age 86 on May 7. After attending Boston University for a year, she transferred to NU to study with Lotte Lehman, one of the great singers and vocal coaches of the time. So perhaps not so different from a promising star coming to Evanston to play for Fitz or CC (the Peter Skoronski of the opera stage!). In 1961 at the age of 24, she became the first black singer to perform at Wagner Festival in Bayreuth Germany. This took a lot of courage on her part and was a hugely important event in the traditional world of European opera. When it was announced, there was a lot of grumbling and blatantly racist criticism. But her performance as Venus spoke for itself and silenced the critics: at the end of the opera, the audience applauded for 30 minutes and there were 42 curtain calls. Following the performance, she was invited by Jacqueline Kennedy to sing at the White House, and her career took off. She was a star in great demand for the next four decades in Europe and the US.
OT: We lost a trail-blazing Wildcat
- Thread starter usopen30
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Read the NYT obit but it didn't mention the NU connection. Thanks for sharing. It's part of why I read this site.
This was part of the NYT obit.
The exposure helped put her on a path to Boston University, and later, Northwestern University, where she fell under the tutelage of the German opera luminary Lotte Lehmann, who became another valuable mentor as Ms. Bumbry moved toward her debut in Paris.
Must have been edited out of the one I read. Thanks for the info.
