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Marian Anderson, b. Philadelphia, Feb. 17,
1902, was the first black singer to perform at the Metropolitan
Opera House in New York City. Anderson, who was a contralto,
made her debut (1955) as Ulrica in Giuseppe Verdi's Un Ballo
in Maschera. She was, however, primarily a concert artist
and was particularly acclaimed for her singing of spirituals.
Anderson first sang in church choirs. Because of her race
she had to overcome great difficulties to obtain the training
necessary for a career. In 1935 she sang for Arturo Toscanini,
who said she had "a voice that comes once in a hundred
years." In 1939 the Daughters of the American Revolution
denied her access to Washington's Constitution Hall for a
concert; Eleanor Roosevelt then arranged her concert outdoors
on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before an audience of
75,000 people. Anderson was named by the government as an
alternate delegate to the United Nations in 1958. She sang
at the inaugural balls of Presidents Eisenhower (1957) and
Kennedy (1961). Anderson made many recordings and was noted
for the warm, deep timbre and for the style of her oratorio
singing. She retired after a successful concert tour in 1965.
In 1978 she was one of five recipients of the first Kennedy
Center Honors. In 1989 a fund was established to aid promising
singers, with the grants to be known as the Marian Anderson
Awards.
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