For a long time, the world of opera was blindingly white—until soprano Camilla Williams became the first Black singer to perform on a major American opera stage. In 1946, she made her debut at the New York City Opera as Madame Butterfly, opening a door that had been closed to people of color up until that time. She was active in the civil rights movement and, in 1964, she performed in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Nobel Peace Prize awards ceremony in Oslo.
Williams was also a teacher, and among her most successful students is Janet Williams, a longtime member of the ensemble at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin who has also performed across Europe and at the Metropolitan Opera, the San Francisco Opera, and the Washington Opera. Today, Janet Williams lives in Berlin and teaches a private vocal studio. In a Zoom call, she told me about her years studying with the legendary Camilla Williams.
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