Leontyne Price

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Lore & Background

Leontyne Price was born in Laurel, Mississippi, on February 10, 1927, during racial segregation. Her mother, Katherine Viola Price, was a licensed practical nurse and midwife; her father, James Anthony Price, worked in the timber industry and as a part-time carpenter. Price began piano lessons at age three and a half with Hattie McInnis, who had studied under composer Carl Orff. She studied at Wilberforce University and later the Juilliard School with Florence Kimball. Her first significant professional engagement was in Virgil Thomson's Four Saints in Three Acts, which she performed on Broadway and in Paris. That same year she starred in the third revival of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess and married her co-star, bass-baritone William Warfield. In 1953 she began a long association with composer Samuel Barber, performing the world premiere of his Hermit Songs at the Library of Congress with Barber as her accompanist. In 1955 Price became the first African American to star in a televised opera, portraying the title role in Puccini's Tosca with the NBC Opera Theatre. This event was widely viewed as a significant moment in breaking the color barrier for Black opera singers. Her televised performance, along with appearances at the San Francisco Opera as Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites and Aida, brought her international attention. She debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1961 as Leonora in Verdi's Il trovatore and continued there for 20 years, starring in a multitude of operas including the world premiere of Barber's Antony and Cleopatra. She made her farewell opera performance at the Met in 1985 in Aida.

Reader's Guide

Leontyne Price's significance lies in her role as a trailblazer for African-American opera singers. As the first Black soprano to achieve international acclaim and the first to maintain a sustained relationship with the Metropolitan Opera, she broke racial barriers in a historically segregated art form. Her 1955 televised Tosca was widely viewed as a pivotal moment in breaking the color barrier for Black opera singers. Price was particularly renowned for Verdi's middle-period operas, especially Aida, and her performances survive in many recordings. After retiring from opera, she continued recitals and orchestral concerts until 1998, and came out of retirement for special events, including a 2001 memorial concert at Carnegie Hall for victims of the 9/11 attacks. Her honors include the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964 and 13 Grammy Awards.

Did You Know?

• Price changed the spelling of her name to Leontyne while studying at Wilberforce University.
• Her mother proposed the feminized version of the name Leon, which became her middle name Leontine.
• Price's only sibling, George, grew up to become a brigadier general in the United States Army and lived until 2024, dying at age 95.
• Singer Dionne Warwick has said she is a cousin of Price on her maternal side.
• Price's first significant professional engagement was in Virgil Thomson's Four Saints in Three Acts, which she performed both on Broadway and in Paris.