BlankJessye Norman, international opera star, dies at 74.
NEW YORK -- Jessye Norman, the renowned international opera star whose
passionate
soprano voice won her four Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts and the
Kennedy
Center Honor, has died, according to family spokesperson Gwendolyn Quinn. She
was 74.
A statement released to the Associated Press on Monday said Norman died from
septic
shock and multi-organ failure secondary to complications of a spinal cord
injury she
had sustained in 2015. She died at Mount Sinai St. Lukes Hospital in New York,
and
was surrounded by loved ones. We are so proud of Jessyes musical achievements
and the
inspiration that she provided to audiences around the world that will continue
to be
a source of joy. We are equally proud of her humanitarian endeavors addressing
matters such as hunger, homelessness, youth development, and arts and culture
education, the family statement read. Funeral arrangements will be announced in
the
coming days. Norman was a trailblazing performer, and one of the rare black
singers
to attain worldwide stardom in the opera world, performing at such revered
houses
like La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera, and singing title roles in works like
Carmen, Aida and more. She sang the works of Wagner, but was not limited to
opera or
classical music, performing songs by Duke Ellington and others as well. Norman
was
born on September 15, 1945 in Augusta, Georgia, in segregationist times. She
grew up
singing in church and around a musical family that included pianists and
singers. She
earned a scholarship to the historically black college Howard University in
Washington, D.C., to study music, and later studied at the Peabody Conservatory
and
the University of Michigan. Eventually she made her operatic debut in 1969 in
Berlin,
wowing audiences around the world on stages in Milan, London and New York
thanks to
her shining vocals, no matter the language. The New York Times described her
voice as
a grand mansion of sound. It defines an extraordinary space. It has enormous
dimensions, reaching backward and upward. It opens onto unexpected vistas. It
contains sunlit rooms, narrow passageways, cavernous falls, the Times Edward
Rothstein wrote. In 1997, at age 52, Norman became the youngest person ever to
earn
the Kennedy Center Honor in the organizations 20-year history at the time. She
received her National Medal of Arts from former President Barack Obama and has
earned
honorary doctorates from a number of prestigious schools, including Juilliard,
Harvard and Yale. She is a member of British Royal Academy of Music and Georgia
Music
Hall of Fame. Norman even has orchid named after her in France, and the country
also
made her a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters. Shes earned 15 Grammy
nominations throughout her illustrious career, picking up her first at the 1985
show
for best classical vocal soloist performance for Ravel: Songs Of Maurice Ravel.
She
earned Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.