23 Facts About Barbara Hendricks

Barbara Hendricks was born on November 20,1948 and is an American lyric soprano and humanitarian.

Barbara Hendricks gained acclaim for her operatic roles from her 1974 debut onwards, and performs jazz among other genres.

Barbara Hendricks has lived in Europe since 1977, and in Basel since 1985.

Barbara Hendricks is a citizen of Sweden following her marriage to a Swedish citizen.

Barbara Hendricks was born in Stephens, Arkansas to Malvin and Della Mae Barbara Hendricks.

Barbara Hendricks's father was a preacher in the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, and her mother was a teacher.

Barbara Hendricks graduated with a bachelor's degree in music in 1973.

Barbara Hendricks has two children, Jennie and Sebastian, with her former husband, Swedish pianist and impresario Martin Engstroem.

In 1974, Barbara Hendricks made her professional operatic debut in Europe at the Glyndebourne Festival and in America at the San Francisco Opera.

Barbara Hendricks has performed more than twenty roles, twelve of which she has recorded.

Barbara Hendricks has appeared on film as Mimi in La boheme, and in 1995 she sang the role of Anne Truelove in the Swedish film Rucklarens vag, an adaptation of Stravinsky's opera The Rake's Progress.

Barbara Hendricks recorded Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, which is the main theme for the film.

Barbara Hendricks is known for her love of chamber music and has organized a number of chamber music festivals.

In 2018, Barbara Hendricks sang "La Marseillaise" with the Choir of the French Army at the interment ceremony of Simone Veil in the Pantheon.

Barbara Hendricks cites her upbringing in Jim Crow-Era Arkansas as an inspiration for her extensive activist and humanitarian work.

Barbara Hendricks was first appointed as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador in 1987, and has continued to serve up to the present, making her the longest-serving UN Goodwill Ambassador.

Barbara Hendricks was named named Honorary Lifetime Goodwill Ambassador in 2002, and continues to be the only person who has received that title.

In 1991 and 1993 Barbara Hendricks gave two concerts in the war-torn formerly Yugoslavian cities of Dubrovnik and Sarajevo.

Barbara Hendricks performed in Sarajevo with the Sarajevo Opera Chorus and jazz musician Sinan Alimanovic.

Since 2000, Barbara Hendricks has been a member of the Council of the Foundation for the Refugee Education Trust.

In 1986, Barbara Hendricks was made a Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres; in 1992 she was awarded the rank of Chevalier of the Legion d'honneur.

In 2001, Barbara Hendricks received the Lions Clubs International Award for the work of her foundation.

In 2015, Barbara Hendricks received the honorary degree Doctor of Fine Arts from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.