A Century of Song: Black Classical Singers and the BSO
This special focus exhibit takes a look at some of the Black classical singers who have performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the nearly 100 years since November 15, 1923 when Roland Hayes became the first Black soloist to appear with the orchestra: these artists include Dorothy Maynor (pictured to the right), Carol Brice, Adele Addison, Ellabelle Davis, George Shirley, Leontyne Price, Kathleen Battle, Shirley Verrett and Jessye Norman, among others. Selected archival audio clips featuring a few of these artists are available by scrolling down to the end of this exhibit.
American soprano Dorothy Maynor and BSO Music Director Serge Koussevitzky, 1940
Photographer unknown
Tenor Roland Hayes, first Black soloist to perform with the BSO
Program for Roland Hayes’s BSO debut, November 15, 1923, at Sanders Theater in Cambridge, MA
Roland Hayes performed as a soloist with the BSO ten times between 1923 and 1944 under the baton of Pierre Monteux and Serge Koussevitzky in Boston, Cambridge, Providence, Brooklyn, and New York.
American tenor Roland Hayes (b. 1887–d. 1977)
Photographer unknown
April 4, 1955, letter from Roland Hayes to Pierre Monteux, thanking him for the opportunity to perform with the BSO in 1923
Pierre Monteux (BSO Music Director 1919-1924) heard Roland Hayes sing in Paris during the summer of 1922 and immediately began to organize his appearance with the BSO, which took place during the 1923-1924 Season.
The 1930s and 1940s
Newspaper article describing how American soprano Dorothy Maynor (b. 1910-d. 1996) first met Serge Koussevitzky
After Koussevitzky heard Maynor sing informally towards the end of the 1939 Tanglewood season, he immediately asked her to perform at his annual picnic the next day where several music critics were in attendance. Koussevitzky invited her to sing with the BSO on two different programs during the 1939-1940 season.
December 3, 1939, Boston Sunday Post
American mezzo-soprano (or contralto) Carol Brice (b. 1918-d. 1985)
Brice’s first appearance with the BSO took place on August 3, 1946, at Tanglewood, where she performed Brahms Alto Rhapsody, with Serge Koussevitzky conducting.
Photographer unknown
American soprano Adele Addison (b. 1925)
Addison attended the Berkshire Music Center (now the Tanglewood Music Center) opera program during the summer of 1947 where she studied under Boris Goldovsky. The following season, she performed Debussy’s Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien with the BSO, Charles Munch conducting, March 25 and 27, 1948. In all she appeared as a soloist on 77 programs between 1947 and 1962.
Photographer unknown
The 1950s and 1960s
American soprano Ellabelle Davis (b. 1907-d. 1960)
Curtain call with composer Lukas Foss, soprano soloist Ellabelle Davis, and conductor Leonard Bernstein. The BSO performed Foss’ Song of Songs, Second Biblical Solo Cantata for soprano and orchestra on July 30, 1950 at Tanglewood. Davis gave 12 performances with the BSO between 1947 and 1950.
Photograph by Howard S. Babbitt, Jr.
American tenor George Shirley (b. 1934)
Another attendee of the Tanglewood Music Center’s opera program, George Shirley is shown here in a performance of Jan Meyerowitz’s Port Town (text by Langston Hughes) at Tanglewood, August 4, 1960. In all, he appeared as soloist on 12 programs between 1960 and 1970.
American soprano Leontyne Price (b. 1927)
Another alumnus of the Tanglewood Music Center opera program (class of 1951), Leontyne Price gave 20 performances with the BSO between 1951 and 1987, including the world premiere performance of Samuel Barber’s Prayers of Kierkegaard on December 3, 1954, a performance conducted by Charles Munch.
Photograph by Walter H. Scott
The 1970s through the end of the century
Seiji Ozawa and American soprano Kathleen Battle (b. 1948) during the curtain call for a performance most likely during the mid-1980s
Kathleen Battle first performed with the BSO in 1978 and appeared on 15 programs until 1996.
Photographer unknown
American mezzo-soprano (later soprano) Shirley Verrett (b. 1931-d. 2010)
Music Center alumni Shirley Verrett (class of 1954) and Sherrill Milnes (class of 1960) perform in the BSO’s production of Tosca, conducted by Seiji Ozawa on July 26, 1980. Shirley Verrett first performed with the BSO in 1965 and performed in 7 different programs till 1990.
Photograph by Walter Scott
American soprano Jessye Norman (b. 1945-d. 2019)
Norman performs with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Seiji Ozawa, at Tanglewood on August 19, 1989.
Photograph by Walter H. Scott
A favorite with BSO audiences, Norman appeared with the BSO and/or Pops a total of 67 times between the years 1972 and 2012. She collaborated with former BSO Music Director Seiji Ozawa a total of 35 times and made several recordings with him, including Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder on the Philips label in 1988 (cover depicted here).