Jessye Norman - The Voice of Grandeur
The universe of lyrical song is vast, but few of its stars shine as brightly as Jessye Norman, the opera singer for those who don't like opera.
Owner of an incredible vocal range and impeccable technique, her voice was voluptuous and as sonorous as a bell, but always velveteen regardless of her reach, and she was comfortable singing in a wide variety of styles, from opera to Blues.
With a personality that blended Southern warmth with global education, Norman was frank, witty, elegant, charming, and rigorous when it came to her art.
Starting her career at a time of global social change and artistic renaissance, Jessye Norman belonged to a new group of groundbreaking, non-traditional opera stars which also included Barbara Hendricks, Kathleen Battle, and Kiri Te Kanawa.
Overcoming prejudices of all sorts, Jessye Norman graced the operatic scene for five decades, leaving a legacy of art and beauty that can still be felt today.
Born Jessye Mae Norman in 1945 in Augusta, Georgia, she was the fourth of the five children of Silas Norman, an insurance broker, and Janie King-Norman, a schoolteacher.
Despite growing up in the American South during the times of racial segregation, Jessye was not influenced by the restrictions of her environment.
As she declared in a 2014 interview with the BBC, "the oppression was not in my mind, it was not in my spirit, it was something that was happening outside of me".
“I always thought that segregation was stupid and foolish and useless, even at age five.”
Part of this conviction stemmed from her supporting community and from the fact that both her parents were educated, working professionals, actively involved in the Civil Rights movement, who fostered strong values and high aspirations in their children.
Norman grew in a family in which culture and academic achievement were paramount, which explains her declaring later in life, “I don't sing in a language I don't speak”.
In her rigour, she dutifully studied and spoke all the languages she sang in (German, French, Italian...), in order to understand the characters and perform them to perfection.
Norman also credited the Arts Education she received at public school for providing her with 'a place to dream', and for opening her eyes to the world.
In particular, she often mentioned watching the film "The Lady of Philadelphia", about Marian Anderson, the impressive contralto who in 1939 had given a memorable performance at the Lincoln Memorial and the first African American allowed to sing at the Metropolitan Opera.
Norman remembered listening to her on the radio as a pivotal moment that opened her eyes to how far an African American woman like her could reach, installing in her the ambition to become an opera singer.
An ambition that was supported by her family, for music was another interest of the Norman family.
Jessye’s father sang in the church choir, and both her mother and grandmother played the piano, instrument which they taught to the Norman siblings as well.
From an early age Jessye had a powerful singing voice, and by age four she already sang gospel songs at Mount Calvary Baptist Church. Later she sang in school assemblies, community functions, and from age seven she took part in school singing competitions.
Noting her inclination for singing, for her ninth birthday Jessye's parents gave her a radio of her own, and Jessye spent Saturday afternoons listening to the live broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera, becoming particularly enthusiastic about Marian Anderson and Leontyne Price.
At school, Jessye often sang the parts that were missing in the choir; thus, without intentionally doing so, she trained her vocal cords to sing in an impressively ample range, from the lowest baritones to the highest soprano pitch.
Jessye’s first singing coach was her music teacher, Rosa Harris Sanders Creque, at her Junior High School. When she progressed to Senior High School, Jessye continued to take private voice lessons with her.
Jessye was still 16 when she heard about the annual Marian Anderson Music Scholarship Competition. With the aid of her classmates, Jessye and her high school choir teacher travelled to Philadelphia to participate in the contest.
Although she did not win any awards, the judges were impressed by her performance and encouraged her to study seriously.
On her trip back home, her teacher arranged an impromptu audition with the music faculty of an historically black college, Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Jessye was still a year shy from graduating from High School, but was nonetheless offered a full college scholarship to study music.
With such encouraging start, Jessye gave up her plans of going to med school and resolved to pursue a musical career.
Video: Jessye Norman - Panis Angelicus (4:09)
While at Howard, Jessye sang in the university chorus and at the Lincoln Temple United Church of Christ. In 1966, she won the National Society of Arts and Letters singing competition.
In 1967 she graduated from Howard with a Cum Laude degree in music, and began graduate studies at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. Later, she continued her studies at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance in Ann Arbor.
In 1968, she participated in the highly reputed Interlochen Arts Summer Camp while pursuing her masters degree at the University of Michigan.
After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1968, Jessye moved to Europe, where she was invited, along other promising young singers, to perform for major Opera House directors. The director of Berlin’s Deutsche Oper, Egon Seefehlner, was so impressed by Norman's aria from Tannhäser, that he invited her to Berlin to sing the entire role.
Ever he perfectionist, Jessye learned the rest of the role and even the other parts, and polished her spoken German.
The following year, she won first place in the ARD International Music Competition, the largest musical competition in Germany, a success that launched her professional operatic debut as Elisabeth in “Tannhäser” at the Deutsche Oper.
During the performance, her first aria was so well received by the public, that Dr. Seefehlner offered her a three-year contract with the Deutsche Oper Berlin on the spot.
She made her professional debut in Italy within a year.
She went on to perform as a guest soprano with German and Italian opera companies, taking on roles in a wide catalogue of operas, from Handel's “Deborah” to Mozart's “La nozze di Figaro”, to the delight of audiences who welcomed the new young opera star.
In 1972, Norman made her first appearance at La Scala in Milan, singing the title role in Verdi's “Aida”. That same year she performed at The Royal Opera at Covent Garden, London, taking the role of Cassandra in “Les Troyens” by Hector Berlioz.
Also that same year, Norman returned to her homecountry for the Hollywood Bowl's 50th anniversary celebration concert. She also participated at Tanglewood Music Festival with an all-Wagner concert, and toured the country offering recitals, after which she returned to Europe.
Her first New York City recital took place in 1973, participating int the "Great Performers" series at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
Her star was rising and her career seemed perfect.
However, still in her early 20s, Jessye felt that she was not ready for the parts she was being given and the strain of the company’s working system did not suit her. Intent on caring for her voice, she did what no beginner artist would dare do: she refused to continue singing the parts she was being given.
Jessye was fired and moved to London. However, this freedom opened the door to new opportunities.
Away from opera roles, she carved herself a career as a recitalist and soloist, singing styles as different as in the works of Schubert, Mahler, Wagner, Brahms, Mendelsohn, Satie, Messiaen, Franck, and several contemporary American composers.
By the time she returned to opera for her first performance at the Hamburg State Opera, in 1980, she was better than ever.
In 1982, Norman had her first operatic appearance in the United States at the Opera Company of Philadelphia, where she appeared as Jocasta in Stravinsky's “Oedipus rex”, and as Dido in Purcell's “Dido and Aeneas”.
There she showed her impressive range, impeccable technique and versatility, tackling the works in the Modern and Baroque style almost effortlessly, to the amazement of critics and delight of the audience.
The following year, she had her stage debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, opening the company's 100th-anniversary season.
During the nine performances of the series, Norman played different roles in Berlioz’s “Les Troyens”, even singing the roles of Cassandra and Dido in the same evening.
In the ninth and last performance, The New York Times reported, "the audience gave Miss Norman a 15-minute standing ovation that brought her back to the stage more than a half dozen times."
Norman went on to sing leading roles with some of the most important companies in the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Paris Opera, and the Royal Opera, London, as well as recording more than 70 records during her career.
But her talents went far and beyond opera.
Following her passion for music and the example of her idol, Marian Anderson, Norman went on to perform in a wide range of musical styles, from operatic, classical and baroque to modern, jazz, spirituals and blues.
Described by the music critic Edward Rothstein as a "grand mansion of sound" of "enormous dimensions, reaching backward and upward.", and as "opulent' by critic Allen Hughes, the truth is that Jessye Norman's voice defied categorization - one has to hear it and feel it.
It was Norman herself who, when asked to define her voice, declared, “Pigeon-holes are only comfortable for pigeons”.
As she told John Gruen in an interview: "As for my voice, it cannot be categorized – and I like it that way, because I sing things that would be considered in the dramatic, mezzo or spinto range. I like so many different kinds of music that I've never allowed myself the limitations of one particular range."
But the indescribable quality of her voice and her majestic stage presence made Norman a favourite for important events.
On January 21, 1985, Norman sang at the second inauguration of U.S. President Ronald Reagan, performing Aaron Copland's "Simple Gifts".
Video: Jessye Norman - Gesu Bambino (4:41)
In 1986, she sang “God Save the Queen” during Queen Elizabeth II's 60th-birthday celebration.
In 1988, Norman performed a rendition of “Amazing Grace” at the Nelson Mandela’s tribute concert held at the Wembley Stadium in London.
The star-studded event, which also counted with performances by Dire Straits, George Michael, Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder, Sting, and Harry Belafonte, among others, helped to raise awareness about apartheid in South Africa, and became a significant moment in the anti-apartheid movement and in Norman’s career.
In 1989, Norman was invited to sing the French national anthem at the Place de la Concorde in Paris, during the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution. Dressed in a French flag costume designed by Azzedine Alaïa especially for her, she performed La Marselleise to a global audience.
This event inspired South African poet Lawrence Mduduzi Ndlovu to write a poem titled "I Shall Be Heard" dedicated to Norman, published in a book with a foreword written by Norman herself.
In 1991, Jessye Norman participated at a similar event when she sang at the celebration of the 700th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation. Later that year, she also recorded a live concert at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
In 1994, Norman was chosen to sing at the funeral of former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, giving a profound and unforgettable performance.
In happier events, in 1996, she performed at the Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Atlanta, singing "Faster, Higher, Stronger", a song composed by Mark Watters which cites the Olympic motto.
In January of the following year, she performed at the second inauguration of U.S. President Bill Clinton, singing, "Oh Freedom!"
On June 28, 2001, Norman joined another famous American soprano, Kathleen Battle, and the Greek National Opera in “Mythodea”, a choral symphony composed by Vangelis in honor of the 2001 Mars Odyssey NASA mission. The one-night-only performance was held at the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens, Greece, and was later released in DVD and CD formats to great acclaim.
On March 11, 2002, Norman performed "America the Beautiful" at a service unveiling two monumental columns of light at the site of the former World Trade Center, as a memorial for the victims of the September 11 attacks.
By then, critics had noted that her voice had lost much of her lustre, but that did not seem to matter to her legions of fans.
Video: Jessye Norman - Love is Here to Stay (3:43)
Over the years, Norman expanded her talents and cultural expertise into other areas.
In 1988, she performed in Franc Poulenc's one-act opera La voix humaine ("The Human Voice"), based on Jean Cocteau's 1930 namesake play.
She also collaborated in dance crossover projects with the Alvin Ailey dancers (1997), modern dance choreographer Bill T. Jones in “How! Do! We! Do!” (1999), in a Duke Ellington program choreographed by Trey McIntyre (2004), and in a theatrical interpretation of Schubert’s “Winterreise” lieder cycle, among others.
She also acted as curator for "Honor!", a celebration of African-American cultural legacy and worked for literacy in association with the New York Public Library.
Norman was aware that her talent and vocal range were too great to restrict herself solely to opera, and over the years she also sang art songs, lieder, oratorios, orchestral works, crossover jazz, sacred music, songs from the American songbook, American spirituals, and blues. She did not even discard the possibility of collaborating in pop or rap music.
This flexibility and openness were part of Norman’s charm that captivated audiences worldwide.
But she also had a deeper approach to her role as an artist.
As she declared in an interview, “I am deeply spiritual. I revel in those things that make for good – the things that we can do to shed a little light, to help place an oft-dissonant universe back in tune with itself…”
Politically engaged from her youth, Norman took seriously her civic and social responsibility, using her spotlight as a platform to do good, declaring, “There has never been a time when I was not committed to, involved in, or caring of, the social and political issues of my world.”
Thus, she was actively engaged in different causes, often related to culture and education, but also to health and political issues.
This sincere activism led her to be named, in 1990, Honorary Ambassador to the United Nations.
In 2002 Norman announced that she would fund a pilot school of the arts for children in Augusta, and in 2003, she partnered with the Rachel Longstreet Foundation to open the Jessye Norman School of the Arts, an after-school program focused on performing arts which was tuition free for economically disadvantaged students in Norman's hometown of Augusta, Georgia.
In addition to her rigorous schedule of performances around the world, Norman also served on the boards of directors for the Carnegie Hall and City-Meals-on-Wheels in New York City, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, the New York Botanical Garden, the New York Public Library, the National Music Foundation, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the Augusta Opera Association, and of Paine College.
She was also a member of the board and spokesperson for the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation, and for the Partnership for the Homeless.
All of these reveals Norman’s profound interest in the well-being of the community and her commitment to help those in need beyond the arts.
Such a life of achievement and compromised caught the attention of journalists, film-makers, and biographers.
In addition to a 2005 documentary about her life directed by André Heller, in 2014, Houghton Mifflin published her memoir “Stand Up Straight and Sing!”.
In 2015, Norman suffered complications following a procedure to treat her sciatica. This left her paralysed from the waist down as a result of spinal chord injury, a condition which would eventually claim her life in 2019, at the age of 74.
Her public funeral was held in her hometown of Augusta, Georgia, and was attended by an impressive array of important figures from the arts, such as actor Laurence Fishburne, sociologist Michael Eric Dyson, Carnegie Hall's Clive Gillinson, civil rights activist Vernon Jordan, musicians J'Nai Bridges and Wycliffe Gordon.
Students from Morehouse College, Spelman College, and from the Jessye Norman School of the Arts performed in her honor.
In November of that year, she received a memorial service and gala tribute at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City.
The event included Gloria Steinem, the former Minister of Culture of France, Jack Lang, Eric Owens, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and Renée Fleming.
During her lifetime, Jessye Norman received numerous awards and accolades.
Throughout her career, Norman received 15 Grammy Awards nominations, winning 4 times, and in 2006 she became the fourth classical singer in the history of the award to receive a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
She also received 3 Grand Prix du Disque, one of the most reputed awards in the classical music industry.
In 1984 she received the Commandeur de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France), and the National Museum of Natural History in France named an orchid after her.
In 1987, in London, she was made a Member of the Royal Academy of Music.
In 1989, she received the Légion d'honneur, the highest accolade in France. That same year, she was made a Honorary Fellow at Cambridge’s Jesus College.
In 2000, Norman received the Eleanor Roosevelt Valkill medal for her work in the fight against lupus, AIDS, breast cancer and hunger.
Two years later, she was inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame, and received the National Medal of the Arts, imposed by then-president, Barack Obama.
In 2018, Norman was honored as the 12th recipient of the Glenn Gould Prize for her contribution to opera and the arts.
In addition to all these, Norman received honorary doctorates from more than 30 colleges, universities, and conservatories from the United States and around the world.
In other honors, in 2019, the 8th Street in Augusta, Georgia was renamed as the Jessye Norman Boulevard. Also, in 2021, another road in Augusta, the Interstate 20 and Washington Road interchange was renamed as the Jessye Norman Memorial Interchange.
Jessye Norman’s life is still remembered as an example of excellence in the arts and humanity, an inspiration to young artists worldwide.
Her warm and witty personality is still remembered by all those who were lucky to work with her or meet her.
Her magnificent voice can still be enjoyed in her more than 75 CDs recorded, as well as in performances recorded around the world in different media, and her spirit continues to give beauty, opening the hearts and minds of children in her Arts School.
“Long live art, long live friendship, long live the joy of life!”
- Jessye Norman
Did You Know That...?
*When Jessye was a child, she tripped and fell in her family garden, suffering a cut in her cheek that required 20 stitches. The wound left a dramatic scar under her left eye that became her trademark.
*Jessye Norman lent her voice as narrator for the Easter TV special “The People’s Passion”, and in the children’s animated TV series “Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child”.
To Learn More
*Want to see and hear Jessye singing in her youth? Check this video from the 1968 Interlochen Music Camp:
*To learn more about Jessye Norman, watch this 2012 candid interview by the Academy of Achievers:
Sources: Academy of Achievers, Britannica Encyclopedia, Interlochen, BBC, IMDB, Wikipedia.
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