Born: 15 September 1945, United States
Died: 30 September 2019
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following is republished from the Library of Congress. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
1945 September 15 Born in Augusta, Georgia, to Janie Mae King-Norman (1915-1988), a teacher and amateur pianist, and Silas Norman (1914-1979), an insurance broker
circa 1953 Placed third in her first competition at Mount Calvary Baptist Church singing “God Will Take Care of You”
1961 Performed at the Marian Anderson Music Scholarship Competition in Philadelphia
Awarded a full scholarship to Howard University in Washington, D.C., after singing for voice instructor Carolyn Grant
1963-1967 Graduated from Howard University with a Bachelor of Music degree
1967 Summer Studied at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore
1968 Graduated from the University of Michigan with a Master of Music degree in voice
Won the ARD International Music Competition in Munich
1969 Operatic debut as Elisabeth in Wagner’s Tannhäuser with the Deutsche Oper Berlin
1970 Orchestral debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony and conductor Dean Dixon
1972 La Scala debut as title role in Verdi’s Aida
1972 September Royal Opera House debut in Hector Berlioz’s Les Troyens
circa 1972-1980 Took a hiatus from opera to allow voice to mature; concentrated on recitals and orchestral performances
1980 Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance for the album Berg: Der Wein – Concert Aria
1982 United States operatic debut with the Philadelphia Opera Company as Jocasta in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex and Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas
Awarded honorary doctorate from Howard University, the first of more than 40 such honors received in her lifetime
1983 Metropolitan Opera debut as Cassandra and Dido in Les Troyens, the first of her 80 performances with the company
1984 Awarded the title of Commandeur d’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government
1985 Performed at Ronald Reagan’s second Presidential Inauguration
Awarded first Grammy for Best Classical Vocal Performance for the album Ravel: Songs of Maurice Ravel
1987 Became a member of the British Royal Academy of Music
1989 Awarded second Grammy for Best Opera Recording for the album Wagner: Lohengrin
1989 July 14 Performed “La Marseillaise” at the bicentennial of the French Revolution at Place de la Concorde in Paris
1989 October Awarded France’s Legion d’honneur
1990 Named an Honorary Ambassador to the United Nations
Performed “Spirituals in Concert” with Kathleen Battle at Carnegie Hall
Awarded third Grammy for Best Opera Recording for the album Wagner: Die Walküre
1994 Performed at Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s funeral in Washington, D.C.
1996 Performed at the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia
1997 January 20 Performed at Bill Clinton’s second Presidential Inauguration
1997 December Awarded the Kennedy Center Honor
1998 Performed Sacred Ellington at Carnegie Hall and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine
1999 Awarded the Kennedy Center Honor
Awarded fourth Grammy for Best Opera Recording for Béla Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle with Pierre Boulez and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
2000 Awarded the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal for civic contributions
Released first jazz album, I Was Born to Love with You: Jessye Norman Sings Michel Legrand
2000 September Premiered woman.life.song at Carnegie Hall, with music by Judith Weir and text by Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Clarissa Pinkola Estes
2002 March 11 Performed “America, the Beautiful” at the Tribute of Light ceremony, which featured two columns of light at the site of the World Trade Center in memory of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001
2002 Performed at former President Jimmy Carter’s Nobel Peace Prize ceremonial events in Oslo, Norway
2003 September Founded the Jessye Norman School of the Arts in Augusta, Georgia, to provide arts education for disadvantaged youth
2006 February Presented with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for Classical Music
2007 Elected as an American Academy of Arts and Sciences fellow
2009 Curated Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy at Carnegie Hall
2010 February 25 Awarded the 2009 National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama
2014 Published her memoir, Stand up Straight and Sing. London: The Robson Press
2019 September 30 Died in New York City
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