Grace Bumbry a trailblazing Black opera singer, Dies at 86

Mezzo-soprano Grace Bumbry (1937-2023), a Black opera singer has died. She was 86. The artist died on May 7, 2023 at a hospital in Vienna, having suffered a stroke in October.  The singer made her operatic debut in Paris in 1960, playing Amneris in Aida.  Over a nearly four-decade career, Bumbry received great acclaim for her performances in roles that showcased her wide vocal range and singular star power. Grace-Melzia Bumbry was born in St. Louis on January 4, 1937, to parents hailing from Mississippi. A unique talent in the church choir, she grew up in an era of profound racial segregation and was barred from entering the local music conservatory. She studied at Boston University and Northwestern University on scholarships, later going with her instructor Lotte Lehmann to the Music Academy of the West in California.  Following fellow Black artists Marian Anderson and Leontyne Price, Bumbry was a major figure in breaking down racial barriers in classical music. She gained international attention in 1961 when she became the first African American to perform at Germany's Bayreuth Festival, an institution dedicated to Richard Wagner, a figure acclaimed for his music but whose antisemitism and white supremacist views have complicated his artistic legacy. She lived for years in Switzerland and later settled in Vienna, retiring from opera in 1997 after gracing the world's most prestigious stages for decades. Bumbry remained professionally active as a teacher and concert performer.