Music
Muriel Costa-Greenspon
1937–2005 · operatic mezzo-soprano
Detroit-born mezzo-soprano and Cass Tech graduate, the daughter of deaf parents, who sang character roles at New York City Opera for thirty years.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
New York City, New York
aged 68- Birth name
- Muriel Salina Greenspon
- Detroit years
- 1937–1960
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Muriel Greenspon was born in Detroit in 1937 to Edward and Ruth Greenspon, who were both deaf. She attended Cass Technical High School, then earned bachelor's and master's degrees in vocal performance at the University of Michigan in 1959 and 1960. Her professional debut came in her home city in 1960, with the Detroit Grand Opera Association, as Miss Todd in Menotti's comedy The Old Maid and the Thief, and she also sang in Menotti's The Medium in Detroit that year. In 1963 she joined New York City Opera, where she stayed until 1993. There she became a much-loved character singer, moving from twentieth-century works by Bernstein, Britten, Floyd, Menotti and Douglas Moore to the contralto roles of Gilbert and Sullivan and the comic parts of Puccini, Mozart and Donizetti.
Highlights
- Thirty seasons at New York City Opera, 1963–1993
- Cass Technical High School alumna
- Professional debut with the Detroit Grand Opera Association, 1960
- Known for character roles from Menotti to Gilbert and Sullivan
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1950s
Cass Technical High School
Demolished · 1922–2011
Costa-Greenspon attended Cass Tech in its 1922 building, demolished in 2011.