Grace Bumbry
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Grace Melzia Bumbry was an American opera singer, considered one of the leading mezzo-sopranos of her generation, who also ventured to soprano roles. A pioneer among African-American classical singers
Bumbry at the White House for the 2009 Kennedy Center Honors
As La Gioconda with Ino Savini at the Liceu in Barcelona in 1974
Shirley Verrett
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Shirley Verrett was an American operatic mezzo-soprano who successfully transitioned into soprano roles making her a Soprano sfogato. Verrett enjoyed great fame from the late 1960s through the 1990s;
Grace Bumbry
…roles. She was one of the more successful singers who have made the transition from mezzo-soprano to soprano (along with her compatriot and contemporary Shirley Verrett, as well as contemporary Welsh mezzo-sorano-turned-soprano Gwyneth Jones); however, audiences and critics were divided over whether she was a "true…
Verrett in Milan, 1975