Musicians You Should Know: Martina Arroyo

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Basic Facts

Born: February 2, 1937, New York, New York
Type of Performer: soprano
Genre: classical
Awards:
  1. Inducted as Fellow into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2002
  2. V.E.R.A Honoree by The Voice Foundation, 2006
  3. National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honors Award, 2010
  4. Kennedy Center Honoree, 2013

About Martina Arroyo

Born on this day in 1937, Martina Arroyo grew up in Harlem where she lived with her Puerto Rican father and African American mother. She got her start in the arts at a young age with ballet, piano, and singing lessons. She attended Hunter College for teaching and graduated at age 19. While at Hunter, she participated in the college's Opera Workshop and studied voice in addition to her language education curriculum. In 1958, she won her audition for the Metropolitan Opera's "Auditions of the Airs", which awarded her the chance to study music and acting at the Met's Kathryn Long School. She made her Carnegie Hall debut that same year before moving to Europe to build her career in the opera houses there. In 1965, she returned to the Met to step in last-minute for Birgit Nilsson in "Aida" and gave a performance that would launch her career to new heights. She went on to perform at the Met all the major Verdi roles that became the foundation of her repertory.

In 1976, she was appointed by Gerald Ford to the National Endowment for the Arts' National Council on the Arts; she served for six years. She retired from full-time performing in 1989 and became a teacher, touring the world and giving masterclasses. She has appeared countless times on television and in interviews and is credited with helping opera seem more accessible to the masses. In 2003, she established her own non-profit cultural organization, The Martina Arroyo Foundation, which prepares students for careers in opera through two intensive programs of study, coaching, and performance. She is currently a trustee at Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera Guild, and she is a trustee emerita of the Hunter College Foundation.

Listen

"Requiem" - Verdi
The London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Leonard Bernstein


"Ritorne Vincitore", from Aida - Verdi
Regine Crespin's 40th Anniversary Gala, Paris, France


Further Reading


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