One of the hazards of being my age is that I experience friends passing away more frequently than when I was early in my artistic career. When someone I knew was also known throughout the world, the magnitude of their passing increases because other people I know are impacted by the loss. I want to pay tribute to the late Jessye Norman, who passed away last week. Of course she had one of the most magnificent singing voices any of us have ever heard. But I hope people will also remember what kind of person she was.
When a college friend and I sat in Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor and first saw her walk out onto the stage, no one knew who she was. 'A graduate student', someone whispered. Then she opened her mouth to sing, and within seconds the entire audience was aghast.. Some of us had been privileged to hear great opera singers before, but none had ever heard a voice like that. In the following days I discovered that a close friend was one of Jessye's regular accompanists.... So over the next couple of years I got to know more about her, and had a few wonderful encounters with her. Once I met her in a hallway, no one else around, and asked her about her upcoming audition for the Metropolitan Opera. At that point I don't think she knew much about who I was, but she responded very kindly, patiently, and appreciatively as I wished her well. Every friend of mine who had rehearsed or been in class or performed with Jessye said the same thing: that she was an astoundingly brilliant musician, and an extremely kind and wonderful person.
My other favorite encounter with her -- my all-time favorite-- was in Washington when I stood in line with her and she was introduced to Dame Joan Sutherland (who had always been my personal greatest heroine of the opera world). It was interesting to see Jessye when she was perhaps just a bit reserved and shy, but what I remember clearly was the energy that poured from both women toward each other, enough electric energy to light up a city.....and that moment, unique in history, spurred me on to compose and practice and sing and study for weeks on end, excited that I had witnessed a monumental fragment of inspiration from the best of the best.
Later I met and heard Jessye again numerous times, most memorably in productions at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. I have many friends in Georgia, a state which is and always will be proud to have produced Jessye Norman. I have heard African-American friends say that Leontyne Price and Jessye Norman changed the entire outlook of the operatic world by becoming such towering figures. On behalf of AcquaTroupe, prayers and wishes for eternal beautiful singing and joy go out to Jessye Norman and to her overpowering legacy of kindness and love.
James Gibson, Artistic Director
When a college friend and I sat in Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor and first saw her walk out onto the stage, no one knew who she was. 'A graduate student', someone whispered. Then she opened her mouth to sing, and within seconds the entire audience was aghast.. Some of us had been privileged to hear great opera singers before, but none had ever heard a voice like that. In the following days I discovered that a close friend was one of Jessye's regular accompanists.... So over the next couple of years I got to know more about her, and had a few wonderful encounters with her. Once I met her in a hallway, no one else around, and asked her about her upcoming audition for the Metropolitan Opera. At that point I don't think she knew much about who I was, but she responded very kindly, patiently, and appreciatively as I wished her well. Every friend of mine who had rehearsed or been in class or performed with Jessye said the same thing: that she was an astoundingly brilliant musician, and an extremely kind and wonderful person.
My other favorite encounter with her -- my all-time favorite-- was in Washington when I stood in line with her and she was introduced to Dame Joan Sutherland (who had always been my personal greatest heroine of the opera world). It was interesting to see Jessye when she was perhaps just a bit reserved and shy, but what I remember clearly was the energy that poured from both women toward each other, enough electric energy to light up a city.....and that moment, unique in history, spurred me on to compose and practice and sing and study for weeks on end, excited that I had witnessed a monumental fragment of inspiration from the best of the best.
Later I met and heard Jessye again numerous times, most memorably in productions at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. I have many friends in Georgia, a state which is and always will be proud to have produced Jessye Norman. I have heard African-American friends say that Leontyne Price and Jessye Norman changed the entire outlook of the operatic world by becoming such towering figures. On behalf of AcquaTroupe, prayers and wishes for eternal beautiful singing and joy go out to Jessye Norman and to her overpowering legacy of kindness and love.
James Gibson, Artistic Director
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