"Too bad you're black."

No, I didn’t choose that title in order to be provocative or controversial. It’s a direct quote from a conductor that is/was the music director of a small Midwestern American opera company. I was 20 years old and had just sung an audition that I was actually proud of. Following the audition, as my accompanist and I were leaving the hall, the gentleman thanked me for my audition and showered me with compliments. Then, in a very serious tone he uttered those words as if he were compelled to warn me.

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Tamara Wilson, a “veritable force of nature” (Chicago Tribune), rehearses Desdemona's haunting "Ave Maria" from Verdi's Otello.

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Angel Blue, “one of the outstanding voices of her generation” (Financial Times), rehearses the tender aria “Sì, mi chiamano Mimì” from Act I of La Bohème.

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