Joyce Mathis

Joyce Mathis
Born1944 (1944)
Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedMarch 1994
Education
OccupationOperatic soprano
AwardsMarian Anderson Award
Young Concert Artists

Joyce Mathis (1944[1] – before April 2009[2]) was an American soprano who was a concert artist, recitalist, and opera singer from the 1960s into the early 1990s. She is considered a part of the first generation of black classical singers to achieve success in the United States; breaking down racial barriers within the field of classical music.[3] She won several notable singing competitions, including the Marian Anderson Award in 1967 and the Young Concert Artists in 1968.[1] In 1970 she recorded the role of the High Priestess in Verdi's Aida alongside Leontyne Price and Plácido Domingo. Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ned Rorem wrote his song cycle Women's Voices for her in 1975. In 1976 she created the role of Celestina in Roger Ames's opera Amistad at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She appeared frequently in performances with Opera Ebony and the Boys Choir of Harlem in addition to touring widely as a recitalist and concert soprano.

  1. ^ a b Southern, Eileen (1982). "Mathis, Joyce". Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-21339-7.
  2. ^ "Obituaries: Otis, Margaret Ann "Granny"". The Chattanoogan. April 25, 2009.
  3. ^ "African American singers reap benefit from pioneer artists". The Chicago Defender. December 18, 1999. p. 29.