Jessye Norman

Jessye Mae Norman (September 15, 1945 – September 30, 2019) was an American opera singer.^[1] She was a dramatic soprano. She often sung works by Richard Wagner. Norman was in the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. She won Grammy Awards. She received a Spingarn Medal. She also got a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and a National Medal of Arts.^[2]

Jessye Norman, 2014, during a master class in Cooperstown, New York

In 1970, she performed in Italy for the first time. There she sang in Handel's Deborah. The following year, she performed at the Maggio Musicale for the first time. There she sang in L'Africaine.

Life and death

Norman was born in Augusta, Georgia.

She died on September 30, 2019 at a Manhattan hospital from multiple organ failure and sepsis caused by a spinal cord injury at the age of 74.^[3] In The Simpsons episode, "Go Big or Go Homer", was dedicated to her memory.

References

1. "Jessye Norman". The Academy of Achievement. Retrieved Feb 10, 2016.
2. "Jessye Norman". All Music. Retrieved Feb 10, 2016.
3. Fekadu, Mesfin. "Jessye Norman, the International Opera Star, Dead at 74". NBC4 Washington.