Leontyne Price

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Leontyne Price ( LEE-ən-teen, lee-ON-teen; born Mary Violet Leontine Price, February 10, 1927) is an American singer who was the first African-American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera, becoming the first Black singer to maintain a sustained relationship with the company. She regularly appeared at the world's major opera houses, including the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and La Scala. She was particularly renowned for her performances of the title role in Giuseppe Verdi's Aida. Born in Laurel, Mississippi, Price studied at Wilberforce University and the Juilliard School with Florence Kimball. Price's first significant professional engagement was in Virgil Thomson's Four Saints in Three Acts which she performed both on Broadway and in Paris. Later that same year she starred in the third revival of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, and would marry her co-star...

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