Trailblazing Black Opera Star Grace Bumbry Passes Away at 86

Grace Bumbry, a pioneering mezzo-soprano and the first Black singer to perform at Germany’s Bayreuth Festival, has died at the age of 86. Bumbry had a career spanning over three decades and was part of a generation of acclaimed Black opera singers that included Leontyne Price, Shirley Verrett, George Shirley, Reri Grist, and Martina Arroyo. She won the Met National Council Auditions in 1958 and made her Paris Opéra debut in 1960 as Amneris in “Aida.” Bumbry’s final full opera at the Met was at Amneris in Verdi’s “Aida” on Nov. 3, 1986.