Hidden Figures: Kathleen Battle (Patreon)

Hidden Figures: Kathleen Battle

Kathleen Deanna Battle (born August 13, 1948) is an American operatic soprano known for her distinctive vocal range and tone. Born in Portsmouth, Ohio, the youngest of seven children, she attended Portsmouth High School and was awarded a scholarship to the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. In 1971 she began a teaching career at an inner-city public school in Cincinnati, continuing to study voice privately while teaching 5th and 6th grade music. In 1972, her second year as a teacher, a friend and fellow church choir member phoned her and informed her that the conductor Thomas Schippers was holding auditions in Cincinnati. At her audition Schippers engaged her to sing as the soprano soloist in Brahms' German Requiem at the 1972 Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy. Her performance there on July 9, 1972 marked the beginning of her professional career. During the next several years, Battle would go on to sing in several more orchestral concerts in New York, Los Angeles, and Cleveland. In 1973 she was awarded a grant from the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music to support her career. Battle became an established artist at the Metropolitan Opera in the 1980s, singing over 150 performances with the company in 13 different operas. Other opera houses where she performed included San Francisco Opera, English National Opera, and the Vienna State Opera. During this period, she received three Grammy awards for her recordings. The 1990s saw projects ranging from a concert program and a CD devoted to spirituals to a recording of baroque music, from performances of complete operas to recitals and recordings with jazz musicians. Although Battle gave several critically praised performances at the Metropolitan Opera during the early 1990s, her relationship with the company's management showed increasing signs of strain during those years. In February 1994, General Manager Joseph Volpe responded by dismissing Battle from the production for "unprofessional actions" during rehearsals. Since then, Battle has not performed in opera. For the remainder of the decade, she worked extensively in the recording studio and on the concert stage. She also released two albums in 1995 and performed in cities including Los Angeles, New York, Cincinnati, and Chicago in programs that featured art songs from a variety of eras and regions, opera arias, and spirituals. In solo recitals she performed in cities including Los Angeles, New York, Cincinnati, and Chicago in programs that featured art songs from a variety of eras and regions, opera arias, and spirituals. Battle has continued to pursue a number of diverse projects including the works of composers who are not associated with traditional classical music, performing the works of artists like Stevie Wonder and George Gershwin. After a 22-year absence from the Metropolitan Opera House, Battle performed a concert of spirituals at the Met in November 2016. #KathleenBattle #HiddenFigures ****************** Merchandise! MAKE SURE U GETTA SHIRT!! https://www.teepublic.com/user/sssseren Follow me on social media! Twitter: @seren_sensei Instagram: @sensei_aishitemasu Tumblr: http://sensei-aishitemasu.tumblr.com Snapchat: sssseren GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/tc5wh7q Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seren_sensei ****************** Did you know I wrote a book? ☺️ 'So, About That... A Year of Contemporary Essays on Race and Pop Culture' Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/About-That-Contemporary-Essays-Culture-ebook/dp/B013V0CHK6 Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013V0CHK6 Digital download (e-book): https://gumroad.com/l/IkUa ****************** Links: http://www.kathleenbattle.com 'After 22 Years, Kathleen Battle Returns to the Met—With a Message of Hope:' http://observer.com/2016/11/after-22-years-kathleen-battle-returns-to-the-met-with-a-message-of-hope/ 'Is Battle Fatigue Over? The Met Rehires A Banned Soprano:' http://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2016/04/05/473120756/is-battle-fatigue-over-the-met-rehires-a-banned-soprano '22 Years After Famous Firing, Kathleen Battle Returns To Metropolitan Opera:' http://www.npr.org/2016/04/05/473139231/22-years-after-famous-firing-kathleen-battle-returns-to-metropolitan-opera 'Review: Kathleen Battle Returns to the Met After 22 Years. It Was Worth the Wait:' https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/15/arts/music/kathleen-battle-returns-to-the-met-after-22-years-it-was-worth-the-wait.html 'You’re Unfired: Kathleen Battle Is Returning to the Met After 22 Years:' https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/arts/music/youre-unfired-kathleen-battle-is-returning-to-the-met-after-22-years.html?_r=1 Kathleen Battle (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Battle