Betty Allen dies at 82; mezzo-soprano and music teacher

Betty Allen, one of the first African American singers to reach prominence on the international opera stage, died June 22 of complications from kidney disease at a hospital in Valhalla, N.Y. She was 82.

If contralto Marian Anderson in the 1930s and 1940s represented the first generation of black opera stars, then Allen belonged to the second, along with Leontyne Price and Shirley Verrett and Grace Bumbry.

At the height of her vocal power from the 1950s through the 1970s, Allen “sang with a glory of sound that would honor any performance,” wrote Washington Post critic Paul Hume. Even as a performer in her 20s, she earned the respect of conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, who invited her to sing in his “Jeremiah” symphony.

FULL ARTICLE HERE