Marian anderson who is she

The incident placed Anderson into the spotlight of the international community on a level unusual for a classical musician. Roosevelt, Anderson performed a critically acclaimed open-air concert on Easter Sunday, April 9, , on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.

She sang before a crowd of more than 75, people and a radio audience in the millions. Anderson continued to break barriers for black artists throughout the United States. The couple purchased a acre farm in Danbury after an exhaustive search throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Many purchases were attempted, but thwarted by property sellers who took their homes off the market when they discovered the purchasers would be African-Americans. Through the years, Fisher built many outbuildings on the property, including an acoustic rehearsal studio he designed for his wife.

In , the farm was named one of 60 sites on the Connecticut Freedom Trail. The studio was moved to downtown Danbury as the Marian Anderson studio. On Jan. In , she sang for President Dwight D. That same year, Anderson concluded her farewell tour, after which she retired from public performance. Over the years, Anderson continued to add to her accomplishments. She sang at the presidential inaugurations of Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Anderson gave her farewell concert at Carnegie Hall on Easter Sunday in Schoenberg wrote: "Those who remember her at her height … can never forget that big resonant voice, with those low notes almost visceral in nature, and with that easy, unforced ascent to the top register.

A natural voice, a hauntingly colorful one, it was one of the vocal phenomena of its time. Marian Anderson's honors included a doctorate of music from Howard University and honorary degrees from more than 20 other American educational institutions.

In addition to decorations from many foreign governments, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in At age 89, in , Anderson was honored as the subject of a minute documentary broadcast over public television. She died on April 8, Renewed accolades abounded in , the centenary year of Anderson's birth. At noon the following Saturday, a gala of spirituals and art songs took place at Union Baptist Church, at 19th and Fitzwater Streets in Philadelphia—the church where Anderson prayed and sang as a little girl.

All rights reserved. Return to the United States At the end of her European tour, Anderson was an acclaimed sensation in the capitals of Europe, and American impresario Sol Hurok signed her to 15 concerts in the United States. She was educated in the public schools.

She displayed a remarkable skill for singing when she was very young, and she loved singing for her church choir. When she could not afford singing lessons, her fellow choir members raised the money that allowed her to study with a famous singing teacher. When Anderson was twenty-three years old, she entered a competition and won first place over three hundred other singers. The Marian Anderson. Reproduced by permission of the Corbis Corporation.

Further sponsorships enabled her to continue her studies in both the United States and in Europe. Following Anderson's debuts first performances on stage in a particular city in Berlin, Germany, in and London, England, in , she performed in Scandinavia northern Europe , South America, and the Soviet Union. In Salzburg, Austria, she gave a sensational performance.

The famous conductor Arturo Toscanini — was in the audience. After hearing her sing, Toscanini said she had "a voice heard but once in a century. At the end of Anderson's European tour, she was signed to a contract for fifteen concerts in the United States. She performed pieces by European classical composers as well as several African American spirituals traditional religious songs.

The performance was a great success. Critics welcomed her as a "new high priestess of song. Over the next several years Anderson sang for U. She made several cross-country tours and soon was booking engagements scheduling jobs two years in advance. In one year she traveled twenty-six thousand miles. It was the longest tour in concert history. She gave seventy concerts in five months. By it was estimated that she had performed before nearly four million listeners.

Anderson was a pioneer in winning recognition at home and abroad for African American artists. Her concert there, on Easter morning, drew a live audience of seventy-five thousand, and millions more heard it over the radio.