Music
Shirley Verrett
1931–2010 · opera singer (mezzo-soprano and soprano), voice teacher
Celebrated Verdi and Donizetti star who spent her final 14 years teaching voice at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she died in 2010.
- Born
New Orleans, Louisiana- Died
Ann Arbor, Michigan
aged 79- Detroit years
- 1996–2010
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Shirley Verrett was one of the great opera singers of the late 20th century, a mezzo-soprano who moved into soprano roles and triumphed at La Scala, Covent Garden, Paris and the Metropolitan Opera in parts such as Carmen, Lady Macbeth and Tosca. After decades on the world's stages she settled into teaching, and in 1996 she joined the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance in Ann Arbor as a professor of voice, later holding the James Earl Jones Distinguished University Professorship. For the rest of her life she coached young singers there, bringing an international career into the classrooms of southeast Michigan. She died in Ann Arbor in November 2010, aged 79. The following year the university created the Shirley Verrett Award to honor faculty who support women and students of diverse backgrounds in the arts.
Highlights
- Renowned in Verdi and Donizetti roles and as Carmen
- Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres (1984)
- Professor of voice at the University of Michigan (1996–2010)
- University of Michigan's Shirley Verrett Award created in her honor (2011)
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.
Worked here · 1996–2010
University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance
She taught voice here for 14 years as a distinguished university professor.