music.wikisort.org - Singer

George Irving Shirley (born April 18, 1934) is an American operatic tenor, and was the first African-American tenor to perform a leading role at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

Early life

Shirley was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and raised in Detroit, Michigan. He earned a bachelor's degree in music education from Wayne State University in 1955 and then was drafted into the Army, where he became the first Black member of the United States Army Chorus.[1] He was also the first African American hired to teach music in Detroit high schools.[2][3]

Career

After continuing voice studies with Therny Georgi, he moved to New York and began his professional career as a singer. His debut was with a small opera group in Woodstock as Eisenstein in Strauss's Die Fledermaus in 1959,[3] and his European debut in Italy as Rodolfo in Puccini's La bohème.[1] In 1960, at 26, he won a National Arts Club scholarship competition,[4] and the following April he was the first Black singer to win the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions scholarship competition.[5] Shirley is the first Black tenor and the second Black male to sing leading roles for the Metropolitan Opera.[2] He sang there for 11 seasons.

Shirley has also appeared at The Royal Opera, London; the Deutsche Oper Berlin; the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires; the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam; Opéra de Monte-Carlo; the New York City Opera; the Scottish Opera; the Lyric Opera of Chicago; the Washington National Opera; the Michigan Opera Theatre; the San Francisco Opera; and the Santa Fe Opera and Glyndebourne Festival summer seasons, as well as with numerous orchestras in the United States and Europe.[6] He has sung more than 80 roles.[7]

He was on the faculty of the University of Maryland from 1980 to 1987, when he moved to the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, where he was Director of the Vocal Arts Division. He currently serves as the Joseph Edgar Maddy Distinguished University Professor of Music, and still maintains a studio at the school.[1]

Awards and recognition

In 1968, Shirley won a Grammy Award for his performance in the role Ferrando in the RCA recording of Mozart's Così fan tutte.[1] He has three times been a master teacher in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Intern Program for Young NATS Teachers, and taught dozens of up-and-coming vocalists for ten years at the Aspen Music Festival and School.[7] Shirley produced a series of programs for WQXR-FM radio in New York on Classical Music and the Afro-American[2] and hosted a four-program series on WETA-FM radio in Washington, D.C. called Unheard, Unsung.[6] Shirley has been awarded honorary degrees by Wilberforce University, Montclair State College, Lake Forest College, and the University of Northern Iowa.[2] He is a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity.[2][6][8] In 2013, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, of which he is a member, named him a Signature Sinfonian, an award recognizing exceptional accomplishment in the fraternity member's chosen field.[9] One his highest honors came in 2015 when Mr. Shirley received the National Medal of Arts, bestowed upon him by US President Barack Obama.[10] The following year in 2016, he was a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award during the National Opera Association's annual convention.[11] Mr. Shirley was presented with the William Warfield Legacy Award in 2019 for his dedication to the advancement of African American classical vocalists and the legacy of William Warfield.[12]

Discography

[Composer: work (other singers; ensembles; conductor), label, recording or publication date.]

• Cherubini: Mass in D minor (Patricia Wells, Maureen Forrester, Justino Díaz; chorus and orchestra of the Clarion Concerts; Newell Jenkins), Vanguard, 1971
• Debussy: Pélléas et Mélisande (Elisabeth Söderström, Yvonne Minton, Donald McIntyre, David Ward; chorus and orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Pierre Boulez), Columbia Records (CBS), December 1969 and January 1970
• Handel: Ode for St. Cecilia's Day (Gwendolyn Bradley; Boys Choir of Harlem, Orchestra of St. Luke's; Walter Turnbull), 127th Street Records, June 1986
• Haydn: Orlando paladino (Arleen Auger, Elly Ameling, Gwendolyn Killebrew, Claes Ahnsjö, Benjamin Luxon, Domenico Trimarchi; Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne; Antal Doráti), Philips Records, June 1976
• Mozart: Così fan tutte (Leontyne Price, Tatiana Troyanos, Judith Raskin, Sherrill Milnes, Ezio Flagello; Ambrosian Opera Chorus; New Philharmonia Orchestra; Erich Leinsdorf) RCA, 1967
• Mozart: Idomeneo (Margherita Rinaldi, Pauline Tinsley, Ryland Davies, Robert Tear; BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus; Colin Davis) Philips, 1968
• Mozart: Requiem (Edith Mathis, Grace Bumbry, Marius Rintzler; New Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus; Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos) HMV & other labels, (P) 1968
• Rachmaninov: The Bells (Phyllis Curtin, Michael Devlin; Temple University Concert Choir; Philadelphia Orchestra; Eugene Ormandy) RCA, March 24, 1973
• R. Strauss: Friedenstag (Alessandra Marc, Roger Roloff, William Wilderman; New York City Gay Men's Chorus; Collegiate Chorale and Orchestra; Robert Bass) Koch, live, Carnegie Hall, November 19, 1989
• Stravinsky: Oedipus rex (Shirley Verrett, Loren Driscoll, Donald Gramm, John Reardon, Chester Watson; John Westbrook, narrator; chorus and orchestra of the Washington Opera Society; Igor Stravinsky), Columbia Records (CBS), January 20, 1961
• Stravinsky: Pulcinella (Irene Jordan, Donald Gramm; Columbia Symphony Orchestra; Igor Stravinsky), Columbia Records (CBS), August 23, 1965
• Stravinsky: Renard (Loren Driscoll, Donald Gramm, William Murphy; Columbia Chamber Ensemble, Igor Stravinsky) Columbia Records (CBS), January 26, 1962

References

External links

• Klaus Ulrich Spiegel: "Bin ich ein Gott?" – George Shirley. Der wissende Sänger (in German)
• George Shirley interview by Bruce Duffie

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