Denyce Graves
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Denyce Graves (born March 7, 1964) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. Graves announced that she plans to retire from the stage, and that her final appearance will be on January 24, 2026, in the Metropolitan Opera's performance of Porgy and Bess.[1][2]
Early life
Graves was born on March 7, 1964, in Washington, D.C., to Charles Graves and Dorothy (Middleton) Graves-Kenner. She is the middle of three children and was raised by her mother on Galveston Street, S.W., in the Bellevue section of Washington.[3] She graduated from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in 1981. Graves studied voice at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the New England Conservatory with Helen Hodam.[4] She worked at the Wolf Trap Opera Company, which provides further training and experience for young singers who are between their academic training and full-time professional careers. Soon after, she was invited by David Gockley to participate in the Houston Opera Studio, from 1988 to 1990, where she studied with Elena Nikolaidi.
Career
She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1995[3] and has appeared at many opera houses. Though her repertoire is extensive, her signature parts are the title roles in Carmen and Samson et Dalila. Graves also made many appearances on the children's television series Between the Lions and Sesame Street.[5] On January 20, 2005, she sang the patriotic song "American Anthem" during the 55th Presidential Inauguration, between the swearing-in ceremonies of Vice President Dick Cheney and President George W. Bush for their second terms in office.[6]
Graves sang "America the Beautiful" and "The Lord's Prayer" at the Washington National Cathedral during a memorial service for the victims of 9/11 on September 14, 2001, attended by President Bush, members of Congress, other politicians and representatives of foreign governments.[7]
In 2003, Graves performed in front of a live audience at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia for a television special, Denyce Graves: Breaking the Rules. In 2005, she hosted the radio show Voce di Donna (Voice of a Lady) on Vox!, the vocal classical music channel of XM Satellite Radio, on which she interviewed various opera singers. Graves often was heard on The Tony Kornheiser Show radio program with her rendition of the "Mailbag Theme".
In 2005, she sang the lead role in the world premiere of Margaret Garner, an opera by Richard Danielpour and Toni Morrison.[8]
In May 2010, Graves performed a concert with tenor Lawrence Brownlee in the United States Supreme Court Building for the Supreme Court justices.[9]
On June 15, 2013, Graves sang in the world premiere of Terence Blanchard's and Michael Cristofer's boxing opera, Champion with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
In 2014, a recording of We Shall Overcome arranged by composer Nolan Williams, Jr. and featuring Graves was among several works of art, including the poem A Brave and Startling Truth by Maya Angelou, sent to space on the first test flight of the spacecraft Orion.[10]
On September 25, 2020, Graves sang at the US Capitol as her friend Ruth Bader Ginsburg's casket was lying in state. Ginsburg was a devoted fan of opera.
On November 22, 2022, she sang the role of Sally in the stage premiere of Kevin Puts's opera The Hours at the Metropolitan Opera.[11] The performance of December 10 was video-cast as part of the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD series.[12]
Recognition
In 2017, Graves was honored by The Washington Performing Arts with the Ambassador of the Arts Award.[13]
In 2019, Graves received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Dr. Ben Carson.[14]
References
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- ↑ "An American diva bows out at 61"
- ↑ "Denyce Graves Announces Retirement from the Stage"
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Denyce Graves. Answers.com
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- ↑ Toni Morrison's first opera made its debut in Detroit, Detroit free Press, Mark Stryker, August 6, 2019
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Zachary Woolfe (23 November 2022), "Review: In The Hours, Prima Donnas and Emotions Soar", The New York Times.
- ↑ Met program for the performance of The Hours on December 10, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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External links
- Template:C-SPAN
- Template:Official (archived)
- Lindemann Malone, Andrew. Biography at AllMusic. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
- Template:Trim/ Denyce Graves at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidataScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
- Interview with Denyce Graves, August 7, 1997
- Pages with script errors
- Pages with broken file links
- 1964 births
- 20th-century African-American women singers
- 20th-century American women singers
- 20th-century American singers
- 21st-century African-American women singers
- 21st-century American women singers
- American operatic mezzo-sopranos
- Living people
- New England Conservatory alumni
- Oberlin Conservatory of Music alumni
- Musicians from Bethesda, Maryland
- Singers from Maryland
- Singers from Washington, D.C.
- Classical musicians from Washington, D.C.
- American voice teachers
- American women music educators
- People from Bellevue (Washington, D.C.)
- African-American women opera singers
- Richard F. Gold Career Grant recipients