(February 27, 1977-April 8, 1993)
Marian was Born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. She was the oldest of three daughters. She was the daughter of John and Anna Anderson. John was a loader at the Reading Terminal Market and Anna had been a school teacher in Virginia. Her father died from a head injury when she was a child, so she and her sisters were raised by her mother. She started singing around the age of six years old.
Here is four Selections By Marian. My Favorite is Ava Marie
MARIAN ANDERSON--AVE MARIA D 839 --SCHUBERT
She joined the junior choir at school and was soon nicknamed “The Baby Contralto.
She started her musical Training while attending South Philadelphia high school.
Great Black Singer: Marian Anderson - Softly Awakes My Heart, 1935
At the age of 15, she started receiving music lessons from Mary Saunders Patterson, a prominent black soprano. Shortly after finishing her training with Miss Saunders, the Philadelphia Choral Society held an event and raised 500 dollars for her study two years with a leading contralto, Agnes Reifsnyder. After graduating from High school, her principal arranged for her to meet a famous voice trainer named Giuseppe Boghetti. After hearing her sang “Deep River”, he was moved to tears.
MARIAN ANDERSON--PLAISIR D'AMOUR--MARTINI
"Plaisir d'amour" (literally "Pleasure of love") is a classical French love song written in 1784 by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini (1741–1816); it took its text from a poem by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian (1755–1794), which appears in his novel Célestine. The song was greatly successful in Martini's version. For example, a young woman, Madame Julie Charles, sang it to the poet Alphonse de Lamartine during his cure at Aix-les-Bains in 1816, and the poet was to recall it 30 years later.[1] In spite of being subjected to many forms of racism, Marian never lost her dignity or became bitter. After graduating at the age 18, she applied to attend a local music school but was denied because of her race. The most vile racist attempt occurred in 1939 when the Daughter of the American Revolution refuse to allow her promoter to rent Washington, D.C.’s Constitutional Hall. Eleanor Roosevelt was so upset. she resigned from the organization in protest. In response, the first lady arranged a free concert on Washington’s Mall. On April 19, 1039, Marian sang before 75, 000 people and millions of radio listeners. According to Women in History (https://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/ande-mar.htm) , A New York Times critic wrote: “A true mezzo-soprano, she encompassed both ranges with full power, expressive feeling, dynamic contrast, and utmost delicacy.” But despite this success, her engagements were stagnating; she was still performing mainly for black audiences. While touring Europe she was treated with respect and was able to stay in the most grandest hotels, but in America she had to stay with friends when she traveled. While on tour, she refuse to sang to segregated audiences. She demanded that all seats be set up in a row.
Marian Anderson "Deep River" Live 1939
According to Women in History ((https://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/ande-mar.htm) “During her career, she received many awards, including the Springarn Medal in 1939, given annually to a black American who “shall have made the highest achievement during the preceding year or years in any honorable field of endeavor.” In 1941, she received the Bok award, given annually to an outstanding Philadelphia citizen. She used the $10,000 prize money to found the Marian Anderson Scholarships. In 1963, President Lyndon Johnson awarded her the American Medal of Freedom. In 1977, Congress awarded her a gold medal for what was thought to be her 75th birthday. In 1980, the U.S. Treasury Department coined a half-ounce gold commemorative medal with her likeness. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan presented her with the National Medal of Arts”. Following a year long tour, Marian gave her final concert on April 19, 1965 (Easter Sunday) at Carnegie Hall. In 1992 Marian Moved to Portland, Oregon, to live with her nephew. She died from heart failure on April 8, 1993.
Time line:
1925: won a singing contest through the Philadelphia Philharmonic Society
1926: Marian toured the eastern and southern states, adding songs to her repertoire
1928: December 30, 1928, performed a solo recital at Carnegie Hall and obtained a scholarship through the National Association of Negro Musicians to study in Britain
1935-1938: Marian appeared for the second time at New York’s Town Hall. gave two concerts at Carnegie Hall, then toured the states from coast to coast. went on to tour Europe again, and even Latin America
1939: Marian experienced racism, tried to rent Washington, D.C.’s Constitutional Hall, the city’s foremost center, but was told no dates were available. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the Daughter of the American revolution in protest, Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes to arrange a free open-air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for Easter Sunday, On April 9, Marian sang before 75,000 people and millions of radio listeners. Marian gave a private concert at the White House, where President Franklin D. Roosevelt was entertaining King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of Britain.
1943: Marian married Orpheus H. Fisher, a Delaware architect she had known since childhood
1955: Marian debuted at the New York Metropolitan Opera as Ulrica in Giuseppe Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Machera” (The Masked Ball) – the first black singer as a regular company member
1957: toured India and the Far East as a goodwill ambassador through the U.S. State Department and the American National Theater and Academy
1963, President Lyndon Johnson awarded her the American Medal of Freedom, sung at the March on Washington for Job and Freedom
1965: Easter Sunday, Marian gave her final concert at Carnegie Hall, following a year-long farewell tour
1977: Congress awarded her a gold medal for what was thought to be her 75th birthday
1980: U.S. Treasury Department coined a half-ounce gold commemorative medal with her likeness
1993: Marian Anderson died of heart failure, at the age of 96.
Biography
Anderson, Marian. My Lord, What a Morning: An Autobiography. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. 1992. ALSO: University of Illinois Press. 2002. [Originally published 1956.]
Hurok Attractions, Inc. Marian Anderson: A Decade of Great Song in America. New York:
S. Hurok. 1945.
Keiler, Allan. Marian Anderson: A Singer's Journey. New York: Scribner. 2000.
Newman, Shirlee P. Marian Anderson: Lady from Philadelphia. Philadelphia: Westminster Press. 1965.
Tedards, Anne. Marian Anderson. New York: Chelsea House Publications. 1988.
Vehanen, Kosti. Marian Anderson: A Portrait. West port, Conn: Greenwood Press. 1970/c.1941.
WEB SITES:
Marian Anderson: a life in song - the Marian Anderson collection at the University of Pennsylvania Library; includes audio selections
Marian Anderson - biography from Afrocentric Voices in "Classical" Music
Photos Of Marian Anderson
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