Grace Ann Melzia Bumbry was born (January 4, 1937 – May 7, 2023) was an American opera singer, considered one of the leading mezzo-soprano of her generation, as well as a major soprano earlier in her career. She was a member of a pioneering generation of African-American opera and classical singers, beginning with Leontyne Price and including Martina Arroyo, Shirley Varrett and Jessye Norman. Bumbry's voice was rich and dynamic, possessing a wide range, and was capable of producing a very distinctive plangent tone In her prime, she also possessed good agility and bel canto technique, as for example her rendition of Eboli in Verdi's Don Carlos in the 1970s and 1980s. She was particularly noted for her fiery temperament and dramatic intensity on stage. Later, she also became known as a recitalist and interpreter of lieder, and as a teacher. From the late 1980s on, she concentrated her career in Europe, rather than in the United States. A long-time resident of Switzerland, she spent her last years in Vienna.
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