Alice Geraldine Farrar was an American lyric soprano who could also sing dramatic roles. She was noted for her beauty, acting ability, and "the intimate timbre of her voice." In the 1910s, she also found success as an actress in silent films. She had a large following among young women, who were nicknamed "Gerry-flappers".
Mary Violet Leontyne Price is an American spinto soprano who was the first African American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera, where she was the first African American to be a leading performer. She regularly appeared at the world's major opera houses, including the Royal Opera House, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and La Scala; at La Scala, she was also the first African American to sing a leading role. She was particularly renowned for her performances of the title role in Verdi's Aida.
Renée Lynn Fleming is an American soprano, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nominated for 18 Grammy Awards and has won five times. In June 2023, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced that Fleming would be one of the five artists recognized at the 2023 Kennedy Center Honors, which she received in December 2023. Other notable honors won by Fleming have included the Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur from the French government, Germany's Cross of the Order of Merit, Sweden's Polar Music Prize and honorary membership in England's Royal Academy of Music. Unusual among artists whose careers began in opera, Fleming has achieved name recognition beyond the classical music world. In May, 2023, Fleming was appointed by the World Health Organization as a Goodwill Ambassador for Arts and Health.
Kathleen Deanna Battle is an American operatic soprano known for her distinctive vocal range and tone. Born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performances with major orchestras during the early and mid-1970s. She made her opera debut in 1975. Battle expanded her repertoire into lyric soprano and coloratura soprano roles during the 1980s and early 1990s, until her eventual dismissal from the Metropolitan Opera in 1994. She later has focused on recording and the concert stage. After a 22-year absence from the Met, Battle performed a concert of spirituals at the Metropolitan Opera House in November 2016.
Jessye Mae Norman was an American opera singer and recitalist. She was able to perform dramatic soprano roles, but did not limit herself to that voice type. A commanding presence on operatic, concert and recital stages, Norman was associated with roles including Beethoven's Leonore, Wagner's Sieglinde and Kundry, Berlioz's Cassandre and Didon, and Bartók's Judith. The New York Times music critic Edward Rothstein described her voice as a "grand mansion of sound", and wrote that "it has enormous dimensions, reaching backward and upward. It opens onto unexpected vistas. It contains sunlit rooms, narrow passageways, cavernous halls."
Lillian Evanti, was an African American opera singer. Evanti was the first African American to perform with a major European opera company.
Balduína "Bidú" de Oliveira Sayão was a Brazilian opera soprano. One of Brazil's celebrated musicians, Sayão was a leading artist of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1937 to 1952.
Pauline Donalda, born Pauline Lightstone, was a Canadian operatic soprano.
Prakseda Marcelina Kochańska, known professionally as Marcella Sembrich, was a Polish dramatic coloratura soprano. She is known for her extensive range of two and a half octaves, precise intonation, charm, portamento, vocal fluidity, and impressive coloratura. Her voice was regarded as flute-like, sweet, pure, light, and brilliant. She had an important international singing career, chiefly at the New York Metropolitan Opera and the Royal Opera House, in London.
Julia Claussen was a Swedish mezzo-soprano.
Monica Yunus is an American operatic soprano who has performed with many opera companies and music ensembles. She is the daughter of Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker, Noble Laurette economist Muhammad Yunus. About her singing quality reviewers from US dailies, The New York Times, the Charleston City Paper and the Palm Beach Daily News have described her voice as "especially winning", "utterly captivating" and "a voice destined for super-stardom" respectively. Her voice's performance range lies from a low A (A3) to a high F (F6). She performed regularly at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 2003-2014; appearing in several broadcasts of Metropolitan Opera Live in HD.
Waltraud Meier is a German dramatic soprano and mezzo-soprano singer. She is particularly known for her Wagnerian roles as Kundry, Isolde, Ortrud, Venus, Fricka, and Sieglinde, but has also had success in the French and Italian repertoire appearing as Eboli, Amneris, Carmen, and Santuzza. She resides in Munich.
Frieda Hempel was a German lyric coloratura soprano singer in operatic and concert work who had an international career in Europe and the United States.
Sonya Yoncheva is a Bulgarian operatic soprano, producer and founder of SY11 Productions company.
May Esther Peterson Thompson was an opera singer for the Metropolitan Opera Company.
Lenora Beatrice Sparkes was a British-American mezzo-soprano who performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in the 1910s.
Alice Eversman was an American opera singer and voice teacher, and later a music critic for over twenty years.
Maria Winetzkaja, also seen as Maria Winetskaja, was an American mezzo-soprano opera singer born in Kishinev, in present-day Moldova.
Odette Le Fontenay, born Odette Le Flaguais, was a French soprano opera singer and music educator based in the United States after 1913. She sang with the Metropolitan Opera in its 1916–1917 season.
Vera C. Curtis was an American soprano and voice teacher. Educated at the New England Conservatory and the Institute of Musical Art, she was the first singer who was trained exclusively in the United States to become a principal singer at the Metropolitan Opera (Met); performing with that company from 1912 through 1920. She created roles in two world premieres staged at the Metropolitan Opera House: Lise in Damrosch's Cyrano in 1913 and Queen Carolina in Giordano's Madame Sans-Gêne in 1915. She remained active as an opera and concert singer in the 1920s, notably portraying the title role in Verdi's Aida for the inaugural performance of the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company in 1926. Her final appearance in an opera was as Venus in Wagner's Tannhäuser in a 1929 touring production of the opera staged by the Cincinnati Opera.
