Marian Anderson is widely considered to be one of the greatest contraltos of the twentieth century. She holds the distinction of becoming the first African-American soprano to appear with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Marian was born in Philadelphia and has been performing since she was a toddler, exhibiting her incredible singing skills. Her family, on the other hand, was not well-off and could not afford to pay for her professional vocal training. Marian’s church congregation made a generous gesture by raising finances, allowing her to attend a music school for about a year. A significant portion of her singing career was spent delivering recitals in prestigious music venues and concerts with renowned orchestras throughout Europe and the United States of America. Marian was offered several roles with many of Europe’s top opera companies, but she declined them all because she was not a trained actor. Her original choice had always been to perform only in recitals and concerts. Marian did, however, play opera arias at her recitals and concerts. She made multiple records that showcased her diverse performance abilities, which included anything from concert literature to traditional American songs, opera, and spirituals. Marian Anderson became one of the significant personalities in the then ongoing struggle for many of the black artists for overcoming racial biases during the mid twentieth-century in the United States of America.
Childhood and Adolescence
Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia on February 27, 1897, to John Berkley Anderson and Annie Delilah Rucker. Marian was the oldest of three daughters and was only six years old when she joined the Union Baptist Church choir as a member. “Baby Contralto” became her moniker.
Marian’s father was an ice and coal dealer who encouraged his daughter’s musical pursuits. Marian’s father bought her a piano when she was just eight years old. Marian taught music herself because her family didn’t have the financial wherewithal to send her to music classes.
Marian’s father died when she was just 12 years old, leaving her mother to raise the children alone. Marian, on the other hand, did not let her personal tragedy deter her from pursuing her artistic dreams. She remained devoted to her church and choir, where she practised several parts such as bass, tenor, alto, and soprano in front of her family until they were perfected.
Career of Marian Anderson
Anderson’s family could not afford to send her to high school or pay for her music lessons. Her love of singing, on the other hand, kept her involved in musical activities at church, where she joined the adult chorus. Her participation in the Camp Fire Girls and the Baptist Young People’s Union provided her with some musical chances.
She was able to take singing lessons from Mary Saunders Patterson with the support of Reverend Wesley Parks, her church’s pastor and one of the directors of the People’s Chorus. In the end, she was able to graduate from South Philadelphia High School in 1921. Sadly, her admission to the all-white Philadelphia Music Academy (now University of the Arts) was denied because “we don’t take colored.”
Anderson sought higher job options by studying with Agnes Reifsnyder and Giuseppe Boghetti in her hometown, overcoming all difficulties with perseverance. Throughout the process, she received help from the Philadelphia Black Community.
She got her first break in 1925, when she won first prize in a competition sponsored by the New York Philharmonic for outstanding singing (NYP). This provided her with fresh opportunities in her work. Her success in the competition earned her the opportunity to perform with the orchestra in a spectacular concert on August 26, 1925. Music critics and the audience both praised the performance.
Anderson chose to remain in New York in order to make the best career decision. She had advanced studies from Frank La Forge, and Arthur Judson, whom she had met through NYP, served as her manager during this period. She went on to perform at a number of events in the United States over the next few years, despite the fact that racial prejudice provided numerous challenges. As a result, her career has struggled to get traction.
When she performed at Carnegie Hall in 1928, many things changed in her singing career. She made a wise decision by relocating to Europe and studying under Sara Charles-Cahier, who was well-known at the time. She then embarked on a hugely successful European singing tour.
Marian’s voice was well-known on both sides of the Atlantic by the end of the 1930s. The United States had invited her. Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States, will perform at the White House. Marian was the first African-American vocalist to be honored in this way. Marian Anderson retired from singing in 1965 following a long and famous career in music, but she continued to perform in public after that.
Major Projects of Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson bears the distinction of becoming the first African-American to perform at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House in both 1955 and 1956. She wowed the globe by singing at both John F. Kennedy and Dwight D. Eisenhower’s inaugurations. In 1957, she embarked on a concert tour of the US State Department’s far east and India. In the 1920s, she had the most popular European singing tour of all time.
Achievements & Awards
She served as a representative to the United Nations Human Rights Committee and as a “goodwill ambassadress” for the US Department of State for several years, performing concerts all over the world. Marian Anderson made history by being the first African American to perform as a member of the New York Metropolitan Opera in 1955.
Personal History and Enduring Legacy
Marian Anderson married Orpheus H. Fisher in Bethel, Connecticut, on July 17, 1943. Marian was her second wife, and Orpheus was an architect. When they were both teenagers, her spouse proposed to her. By this marriage, Marian Anderson acquired a stepson called James Fisher. Her husband’s son from his previous marriage to Ida Gould was James.
After searching extensively in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut, the couple purchased a huge 100-acre property in Danbury, Connecticut. Marian lived on the farm for approximately five decades. Marian’s husband, Orpheus Fisher, died in 1986 after a 43-year marriage. Anderson remained at Marianna Farm until 1992, only one year before her death.
Marian died of congestive heart failure on April 8, 1993, when she was 96 years old. A month before she died, she had a stroke. Many artists and writers drew inspiration from Marian Anderson’s life. Celebrities like Jessye Norman and Leontyne Price looked up to her as an inspiration and role model.
Estimated Net Worth
Marian Anderson is one of the wealthiest opera singers and one of the most popular. Marian Anderson’s net worth is estimated to be $1.5 million, according to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.
Trivia
Marian Anderson was a vocal supporter of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, even performing at the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in the Year 1963.”