In the latest Juilliard Journal - shout-out to Sissieretta Jones and the “Jessye Norman’s Portrait of a Legend: Sissieretta Jones” project!
New York, NY: July 2021: Woke Up Famous, LLC proudly announces the next, vital phase of the late legendary soprano
Miss Jessye Norman’s (1945-2019) passion project,
“Jessye Norman’s Portrait of a Legend: Sissieretta Jones.”
Just days before Miss Norman’s 76th birthday, artists from across musical disciplines will workshop the developing endeavor during a special September 2021 residency at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, the site of the 1969 Woodstock Festival. Woke Up Famous’ committed, stellar cast-some of whom were especially selected by Miss Norman in her lifetime-will have the exclusive opportunity to create together in real-time, beyond virtual space, taking full advantage of Bethel Woods’ expansive natural environment and acreage.
The artistic line-up includes: Lyric Coloratura Soprano Harolyn Blackwell, Broadway, Opera and Television star Damon Evans, Actor-Poet-Storyteller Daniel Carlton, Theatrical and Television Actress-Vocalist Sheila Kay Davis, Actress and Playwright Leah Maddrie, Award-winning artist and musical director Damien Sneed and more to come including a special creative contribution by hip-hop legend
Darryl “DMC” McDaniels of Run-DMC!
More details to follow later this summer!
Original Story by Drama Desk nominee David Gonzalez based upon an Original Concept by Producer Adina Williams, with additional contributions by Harolyn Blackwell. Original Music by New Music USA Project Grant Recipient
Aaron Severini.
The special residency is being made possible by the Rolex Institute, which runs the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. Miss Norman was on the Initiative’s inaugural advisory board in 2001 and later served as mentor to mezzo-soprano Susan Platts in the 2004-2005 cycle.
CLICK HERE TO CELEBRATE SISSIERETTA BY SUPPORTING SISSIERETTA!
Jessye Norman: “Women of Legend, Fantasy, and Lore”
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Celebrate Women’s History Month as the legendary Jessye Norman portrays an evening of operatic heroines, with pioneering conductor Dame Jane Glover and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. From Purcell’s Dido to Bizet’s Carmen, Norman’s regal voice soars through this scintillating program from the 1994 episode of Live From Lincoln Center, “Women of Legend, Fantasy and Lore” hosted by Hugh Downs. The performance was part of Great Performers at Lincoln Center and aired on April 27, 1994.
Curator Happy Hour: Music and the Movements
Woke Up Famous' Executive Producer Adina Williams recently joined Dr. Neal Hitch, Museum Senior Curator at Bethel Woods-site of the 1969 Woodstock Festival, and Hunter College Professor D'Weston Haywood for a lively conversation on the history of music in the pivotal moments of the 1960s through today. Listen for a reflection on Miss Jessye Norman's superlative singing of the French national anthem, by special request and in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Storming of the Bastille in 1789, a cultural moment in time that continues to be a global phenomenon!
The Sissieretta Jones: Call Her by Her Name! project (now titled Jessye Norman’s Portrait of a Legend: Sissieretta Jones) in the November issue of BBC Music Magazine – out on 1 October – celebrating the life and legacy of the pioneering American soprano Jessye Norman. Check it out!
…According to Metropolitan Opera soprano and Manhattan School of Music voice professor Harolyn Blackwell, ‘Jessye never walked onto the stage or into a room. Rather she glided, and her presence made you realize immediately that you were in midst of operatic royalty. The way she would address you or speak to you was always poetic and, like her singing, beautiful and soulful.’ Producer and dramaturg Adina Williams worked over the past few years with Blackwell and Norman on the Sissieretta Jones: Call Her by Her Name! project about the soprano who in 1892 became the first African-American artist to perform at Carnegie Hall. Williams writes about how she invited Norman to a youth choir event at the American Museum of Natural History but didn’t expect her to come…‘[But] show she did and how gloriously – with all the elegance and regal fire that she always carried. Private car at the top of the driveway. Turban expertly adorned. Skin smooth as silk... Fresh as a daisy and mighty as a lioness.’…
American icon and Woke Up Famous, LLC Founding Artistic Director Jessye Norman at 75 Celebration
NEW YORK - Black Opera Productions LLC, and Presenting Partner, Brookfield Place, will present Jessye Norman at 75: A Celebration LIVE on Tuesday, September 15, 2020 at 6:00PM ET, to commemorate the legendary singer’s first birthday in memoriam, presented in support of the Estate of Jessye Norman and Jessye Norman School of the Arts, and the forthcoming documentary film Black Opera…
Multimedia production in the works to honor Portsmouth native and opera legend Sissieretta Jones
Opera pioneer and Portsmouth native Sissieretta Jones died in obscurity in a Rhode Island hospital in 1933. Thankfully, she lived on in a few books. It was through “And So I Sing: African-American Divas in Opera and Concert,” a 1990 book by Rosalyn M. Story, that soprano Harolyn Blackwell learned about Jones. Blackwell also is mentioned in the book. Adina Williams, a producer and dramaturg…
Overlooked No More: Sissieretta Jones, a Soprano Who Shattered Racial Barriers
Sissieretta Jones forged an unconventional path to singing opera, becoming the first African-American woman to headline a concert on the main stage of Carnegie Hall, in 1893…
Jessye Norman’s Next Act By Marc A. Scorca
Jessye Norman has embarked on a multiyear multimedia project honoring the pioneering African American singer Sissieretta Jones (1868–1933). Marc A. Scorca, president and CEO of OPERA America, talks to Norman about Sissieretta Jones: Call Her by Her Name! and about her own path to opera stardom…
An Evening Honoring Jessye Norman
National Sawdust honors icon of the operatic stage Jessye Norman with an exclusive peek into Norman’s latest project, Sissieretta Jones: Call Her By Her Name!…
National Sawdust Honors Legendary Soprano Jessye Norman with Concert to Benefit Her New Project about Pioneering 19th-Century Opera Singer Sissieretta Jones
'A soprano who shattered racial barriers' (New York Times), Sissieretta Jones (1868-1933) was the best-known and highest-paid African-American performer of her day. Specializing in both opera and popular music, she was the first African American to sing on the main stage of Carnegie Hall…
“Call Her by Her Name!”
A preview of the project is accompanied by tributes to Norman in the form of songs associated with her career. The night includes performances by Harolyn Blackwell, PUBLIQuartet, and Run-D.M.C.’s Darryl McDaniels, among others…
INTERVIEWS
Jessye Norman's appearance on The Yola Nash Show on WABC!
WLIW INTERVIEWS
FOOTAGE-includes commentary from the late Miss Jessye Norman
PHOTO GALLERY
THE LIFE & CAREER OF SISSIERETTA JONES
Vision and Reality: The Story of "Black Patti" Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones, penned by Dr. Willia Estelle Daughtry, retired professor emerita and chair of the Department of Music at Hampton University and direct descendant of Sissieretta Jones, is a trail-blazing biography of a talented, musically-educated African-American pioneer.
https://www.amazon.com/Vision-Reality-Willia-Daughtry/dp/0805953035
"Sissieretta Jones: "The Greatest Singer of Her Race," 1868-1933, by former newspaper journalist and magazine editor Maureen Lee, provides a comprehensive, moving portrait of Jones and a vivid overview of the exciting world in which she performed.
https://www.amazon.com/Sissieretta-Jones-Greatest-Singer-1868-1933/dp/1611170729/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=maureen+lee+sissieretta&qid=1590423091&sr=8-1
Sissieretta Jones | Unladylike2020
https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/ull20-sissieretta-jones-video/unladylike2020/#.XvjeIrx_NPY
Photo credits:
Photo Gallery Images courtesy of National Sawdust, Photos by JILL STEINBERG; Sissieretta Jones circa 1895 – Napoleon Sarony.
Sissieretta Jones – Original artwork by Amelie Chabannes, Courtesy of UNLADYLIKE2020.
