Dorothy Maynor
Dorothy Maynor ( Dorothy Leigh Mainor ; born September 3, 1910 in Norfolk / Virginia , † February 19, 1996 in West Chester / Pennsylvania ) was an American singer (soprano).
The daughter of an African American Methodist pastor sang in the choir at her father's church as a child. In 1924 she began studying at the Hampton Institute , which she graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1933. In 1929 she went on a concert tour through Europe with the institute's choir. After graduating in 1933, she went to the Westminster Choir College in Princeton. From 1936 she took private lessons in New York with William Klamroth and John Alan Haughton and directed a church choir in Brooklyn.
In 1939 she sang at the Berkshire Festival in Tanglewood in front of Sergei Kussewizki , who was enthusiastic about her voice ( It is a miracle! It is a musical revelation! The world must hear her! ) And immediately used her for recordings with the Boston Symphony Orchestra . In November of that year she made her debut at New York Town Hall with great success . She then toured the United States, performed at Carnegie Hall in 1940 with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under John Barbirolli , sang at the inauguration of Presidents Harry S. Truman in 1949 and Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953, and soon counted alongside Marian Anderson , Roland Hayes and Paul Robeson among the greatest African American singers. Although she developed a broad operatic repertoire, she was never on an opera stage.
In 1942 Maynor married the Presbyterian pastor Shelby Rooks . In 1963 she ended her career as a singer and worked in her husband's ward at St. James Presbyterian Church in Harlem. In the same year she founded the Harlem School of the Arts , where children of poor parents could attend classes in music, ballet, dance, drama and the arts. She taught at the school herself and directed it until 1977. Maynor was awarded several honorary doctorates (including from Howard University , Westminster Choir College , Oberlin College , Carnegie-Mellon University and Bennett College ) and in 1975 became the first African American woman in the Chairman of the Metropolitan Opera appointed.
literature
- William F. Rogers: Dorothy Maynor and the Harlem School of the Arts: The Diva and the Dream , Edwin Mellen Press, 1993
swell
- Dorothy Maynor at Bach Cantatas (English)
- New York Times, Feb. 24, 1996 - William Grimes: Dorothy Maynor, 85, Soprano and Arts School Founder, Dies
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Maynor, Dorothy |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Mainor, Dorothy Leigh |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American singer (soprano) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 3, 1910 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Norfolk , Virginia |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 19, 1996 |
| Place of death | West Chester , Pennsylvania |