Mary Violet Leontyne Price is an American 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.
Anne Brown was an American soprano for whom George Gershwin rewrote the part of "Bess" into a leading role in the original production of his opera Porgy and Bess in 1935.
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.
Warushavithana Upul Tharanga, commonly known as Upul Tharanga, is a former professional Sri Lankan cricketer, and a former limited over captain who played for all formats of the game. He is a left-handed opening batsman and occasional wicket-keeper. On 23 February 2021, Upul announced his retirement from international cricket.
Violet Vivienne Goonewardene, commonly known as "Vivi", was a Sri Lankan anti-colonial activist and prominent politician, serving as one of the world's first female ministers. A key figure in both the Indian independence movement and the Sri Lankan independence movement, Goonewardene was a prominent member on the non-aligned stage, where she fought against perceived injustices and was critical of the Middle East diplomacy sponsored by the United States. Goonewardene was the first and, to date, only female National Hero of Sri Lanka. By her death, she was one of the Left's most vibrant personalities, and the foremost female figure in the Sri Lankan leftist movement.
Stephanie Blythe is an American mezzo-soprano who has had an active international career in operas and concerts since the early 1990s. She is particularly associated with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, with whom she has performed annually since her debut with the company in 1995. In 2014 she starred as Gertrude Stein in the world premiere of 27, an opera composed by Ricky Ian Gordon with libretto by Royce Vavrek, and commissioned for her by the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
Regina Resnik was an American opera singer who had an active international career that spanned five decades. She began her career as a soprano in 1942 and soon after began a lengthy and fruitful relationship with the Metropolitan Opera that spanned from 1944 until 1983. Under the advice of conductor Clemens Krauss, she began retraining her voice in the mezzo-soprano repertoire in 1953 and by 1956 had completely removed soprano literature from her performance repertoire.
Isabel Leonard is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer based in New York City. She is of Argentine ancestry on her mother's side.
The Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka (SOSL) is based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and is one of the oldest orchestras in South Asia.
Uswatta Liyanage Ivor Sylvester Sunil Perera was a Sri Lankan vocalist, guitarist, songwriter and composer. Described as one of the most influential musicians in Sri Lankan music history, Perera was the leader and the lead vocalist of The Gypsies. He was associated with Sri Lanka's baila genre, and gained the nickname "Baila Chakravarthy".
Mariazelle Goonetilleke is a Sri Lankan singer and musician.
DR. Rohana Weerasinghe, is a Sri Lankan musician, composer and singer.
Camille Zamora is an American soprano recognized for her performance of opera, zarzuela, oratorio, art song and American songbook. She performs repertoire ranging from the early Baroque to 21st century premieres by composers including Grammy Award winners Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein as well as Prix de Rome winner Christopher Theofanidis.
Sean Panikkar is an American operatic tenor. He has performed in many leading opera houses both nationally and internationally, including the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Fort Worth Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, and Carnegie Hall.
Edith WiensOC is a Canadian opera, recital and concert singer with a soprano voice.
Korliss Uecker is an American operatic soprano from Hettinger, North Dakota. With a Masters of Music from the Juilliard School, she performed over 100 times at the Metropolitan Opera singing roles such as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro and Papagena in The Magic Flute. She has also appeared with Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center, Dallas Opera, Santa Fe Opera and the Spoleto Festival, among others. In addition to opera, Uecker sings a wide variety of vocal music including lieder, French chansons, cabaret, jazz and American musical theatre.
Morris Denzil Bernard 'Barney' Wijesinghe,, popularly known as Morris Wijesinghe, was a Sri Lankan musician and playback singer. One of the popular pop artists in 1980s of Sri Lankan music with a career spanning more than four decades, Wijesinghe has sung several popular songs including Doowillen Wathsunu Thawara, Nil Ahas Thale Aage, Oba Enna and Peradiga Ahase.
Erin Morley is an American operatic soprano.
Nuwandhika Senarathne is a Sri Lankan singer and television personality who is most known as a playback singer, as well as a performer of Soprano Opera and Ghazals. She rose to fame as the 1st runner-up of the reality TV show Derana Dream Star Season IX.
