Her voice has been recognized for its shining and agile upper register, "smoky" middle register, beautiful timbre,[2] and ability to switch from a classical to a contemporary sound. She has performed internationally and won numerous awards including a Grammy Award, Operalia and Miss Hollywood. According to family lore, when she was born her father, Sylvester, predicted that she would be "the next Leontyne Price".[3]
Blue is a former model and beauty queen. She was the first African-American to hold the title of Miss Apple Valley, California.[6] She was crowned Miss Hollywood in 2005, and she was 2nd runner up at the Miss California contest that same year.[7] Blue was the 1st runner up to both Miss California in 2006 and Miss Nevada in 2007.[8]
In the 2008–2009 season, Blue made her debut with the San Francisco Opera as Clara in Porgy and Bess; she was the featured soloist with the Valdosta Symphony in Valdosta, Georgia, where she sang the soprano role in Arthur Honegger's King David; and she performed scenes from La traviata (Violetta) with the Korean Symphony Orchestra Germany in Seoul and Busan, Korea. In the 2009–2010 season, she was a featured soloist with the Riverside Philharmonic; the Adrian Symphony in Adrian, Michigan; Giro Italia tour with Alberto Zedda throughout Italy; Madrilenos por Haiti concert with La Orquesta Clasica de Espana in Madrid; A Gala Evening with Thomas Hampson in Budapest, Hungary; and she made her debut at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía as Micaëla in Carmen, opposite Marcelo Álvarez and Elīna Garanča, conducted by Zubin Mehta.[citation needed]
Throughout the 2010/11 season, Blue enjoyed engagements with the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, Spain; the American Youth Symphony; the Redlands Symphony; and the Theatre an der Wien in Vienna, Austria where she sang the role of Giulietta in the Tales of Hoffmann directed by Oscar-winning director William Friedkin. She began touring with Plácido Domingo in 2011 opening the Kaufmann Center in Kansas City, Missouri; the Royal Opera House Muscat, Oman, and concerts in Beijing, China, as well as Zagreb, Croatia. In 2020 she sang Bess in Porgy and Bess with the Metropolitan Opera in New York for their first performance of that opera in 30 years.[citation needed]
Blue was a finalist in Operalia 2009, receiving 1st place in the Zarzuela competition, and 2nd place in the Opera competition. In July 2010, Blue was honored to be a part of the 17th Annual Verbier Festival in Switzerland, where she sang in an "Operalia Tribute" Concert sponsored by Rolex. She has also received awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Regional Auditions, A.E.I.O.U Italian Educators Vocal Competition, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion's Emerging Young Entertainers Award, and the Redlands Bowl Competition.[citation needed]
In upcoming seasons Blue revisits Clara in Porgy and Bess in concert with the Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle; returns to the Frankfurt Opera as the Third Norn in Richard Wagner's Götterdämmerung; and performs Musetta, La bohème, for the English National Opera. Concert performances will take place in Europe, including Carmina Burana at the Maggio Musicale with Zubin Mehta, Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the Munich Philharmonic, Verdi's Greatest Hits concert with the Santa Barbara Symphony, Verdi Requiem with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, and the release of her first solo album with British pianist Iain Burnside. She was the only soloist invited to sing for the American Friends of the Israeli Philharmonic in a Tribute Concert to honor the film composer Hans Zimmer.
In the United Kingdom, she appeared at the Edinburgh Festival in 2013, in the title role of Olga Neuwirth's American Lulu, an interpretation of Alban Berg's unfinished opera Lulu.[11] Also that year, she played Musetta in La bohème at the English National Opera[12] and appeared as Mimì the following year.[13]
In September 2024, Blue appeared at the Last Night of the Proms, performing two opera excerpts by Puccini: Gianni Schicchi – O mio babbino caro and Tosca – Vissi d’arte. She also performed two spirituals with the pianist Stephen Hough, and the aria Al pensar en el dueño de mis amores from the operetta Las hijas del Zebedeo, by Ruperto Chapí, as well as Rule Britannia by Thomas Arne.[20]
In 2010 Blue was a featured soloist on the Madrileños por Haití concert with the Orquesta Clásica de España in Madrid, Spain. The concert was dedicated to raising funds for housing projects for Haitians who have relocated to the Dominican Republic.[6][21]
In March 2014 Blue took part in the annual AIDS Gala in Düsseldorf, Germany. The gala raised €142,000 to help those affected by AIDS and HIV in both Germany and South Africa.[6]
Adele Addison is an American lyric soprano who was a figure in the classical music world during the 1950s and 1960s. Although she did appear in several operas, Addison spent most of her career performing in recital and concert. Her performances spanned a wide array of literature from the Baroque period to contemporary compositions. She is best remembered today as the singing voice for Bess in the 1959 movie, Porgy and Bess. Known for her polished and fluent tone, Addison made a desirable Baroque vocal artist. She can be heard on numerous recordings, of which her Baroque performances are perhaps her best work. Many of her recordings were made with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Leonard Bernstein.
Angela M. Brown is an American dramatic soprano particularly admired for her portrayal of Verdi heroines.
Camilla Ella Williams was an American operatic soprano who performed nationally and internationally. After studying with renowned teachers in New York City, she was the first African American to receive a regular contract with a major American opera company, the New York City Opera. She had earlier won honors in vocal competitions and the Marian Anderson Fellowship in 1943–44.
Susanna Phillips (Huntington) is an American singer who has sung leading lyric soprano roles at leading American and international opera houses.
Judith Blegen is an American soprano, particularly associated with light lyric roles of the French, Italian and German repertories.
Nicole Cabell is an American opera singer. She is best known as the 2005 winner of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.
Sir Willard Wentworth White, OM, CBE is a Jamaican-born British operatic bass baritone.
Florence Quivar is an American operatic mezzo-soprano who is considered to be "one of the most prominent singers of her generation." She has variously been described as having a "rich, earthy sound and communicative presence" as "always reliable" and as "a distinguished singer, with a warm, rich voice and a dignified performing presence." From 1977 to 1997 she was a regular performer at the Metropolitan Opera where she gave more than 100 performances.
Clamma Churita Dale is an American operatic soprano. She portrayed "Bess" in the highly successful 1976 Houston Grand Opera production of Porgy and Bess. The show was transferred from Houston to Broadway and Dale was awarded a 1977 Drama Desk Award for Best Actress in a musical and received a Tony Award nomination. She won a Grammy award in 1978 for Best Opera Recording of the Porgy & Bess soundtrack.
Joy Clements was an American lyric coloratura soprano who had a substantial opera and concert career from 1956 through the late 1970s. She notably sang regularly with both the New York City Opera and the Metropolitan Opera during the 1960s through the early 1970s. She also traveled regularly for performances with opera companies and orchestras throughout the United States but only appeared in a relatively few number of performances internationally.
Marquita Lister is an American operatic soprano. She has sung with major companies in the U.S. and abroad, specializing in the lirico-spinto repertoire. Lister is considered one of the leading interpreters of Bess in Porgy and Bess, having performed the role hundreds of times in companies across the globe, and she is also renowned for her portrayals of Aida and Salome, two signature roles.
Alyson Cambridge is an American operatic soprano. In addition to opera, she sings classical song, jazz, and American songbook and popular song. She is also known for her work as a model, actress, and host.
Gwynne Geyer is an American operatic soprano and voice teacher.
Janai Brugger is an American operatic soprano. In 2014, music critic F. Paul Driscoll described her in Opera News as "gifted with a supple, beautifully shaded lyric soprano."
Camellia Johnson was an American concert and opera singer. She began her career performing works from the mezzo-soprano repertoire, but after encouragement from the staff at the Metropolitan Opera retrained her voice as a soprano. She successfully made that transition after winning the Young Concert Artists competition in 1993. She went on to perform as a leading soprano with orchestras and opera companies internationally.
Rosa Feola is an Italian operatic soprano.
Lise Davidsen is a Norwegian opera singer, known as a lyric dramatic soprano. She came to prominence after winning the Operalia competition in London in 2015.
Adela Zaharia is a Romanian operatic soprano. She is currently a soloist at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Düsseldorf. In 2017, Zaharia won first place at the Operalia, The World Opera Competition.
Elsa Dreisig is a French-Danish operatic soprano. Based at the Berlin State Opera, she made a European career in both opera and concert. Her opera roles include, besides the standard lyric soprano repertoire such as Mozart's Fiordiligi and Bizet's Micaëla, Baroque opera such as Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie, and the world premiere of Beat Furrer's Violetter Schnee.
Elena Aleksandrovna Manistina is a Russian operatic mezzo-soprano. She is a member of the Bolshoi Theatre and has appeared in many operas internationally. She also appeared as Verdi's Azucena at the Metropolitan Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Opéra Bastille, and as Amneris at the Arena di Verona.
↑ "current and former titleholders". Miss Hollywood Scholarship Pageant. Southern California Scholarship Association. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009. Retrieved May 30, 2009.
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