37 Facts About Betty Allen

Betty Allen was an American operatic mezzo-soprano who had an active international singing career during the 1950s through the 1970s.

Betty Allen was known for her collaborations with American composers, such as Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, David Diamond, Ned Rorem, and Virgil Thomson among others.

Betty Allen was greatly admired by Bernstein and the conductor notably chose her to be the featured soloist for his final performances as music director of the New York Philharmonic in 1973.

Betty Allen was born Elizabeth Louise Allen, in Campbell, Ohio, near Youngstown.

Betty Allen's father was a college educated math teacher who worked in a steel mill as racial prejudice prevented him from being hired in the public school system during the 1930s.

Betty Allen's mother earned extra money for the family by washing other people's laundry.

Betty Allen spent the rest of her youth living in foster homes.

In 1943 Betty Allen entered Wilberforce College in Xenia, Ohio, where she majored in languages.

Price and Betty Allen became friends while singing in the choir together.

In January 1955 Betty Allen sang the part of the Israelite Messenger in Handel's Judas Maccabaeus with tenor Walter Carringer in the title role, the Interracial Fellowship Chorus, and conductor Harold Aks.

Betty Allen then spent the next several months on a European recital tour where she was received warmly.

Betty Allen's voice had a rich, true mezzo-soprano quality with a brilliant top, and dark reedy chest tones.

Betty Allen was a figure of regal dignity, yet she showed dramatic temperament, too.

In January 1958 Betty Allen made her New York recital debut at Town Hall to a warm reception.

On May 5,1960, Betty Allen began her long partnership with Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic in a concert performance of Four Saints in Three Acts.

Betty Allen was a regular guest artist with the orchestra through 1975, appearing as a soloist in performances of such works as Johann Sebastian Bach's Johannes Passion, Bach's St Matthew Passion, Bach's Ich elender Mensch, wer wird mich erlosen, Beethoven's Symphony No 9, Berg's Four Songs, Op.

In 1961 Betty Allen sang Teresa to the Amina of Joan Sutherland in the American Opera Society's production of La sonnambula at Carnegie Hall.

Betty Allen performed with the AOS again the following year as Baba the Turk in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress with Alexander Young as Tom Rakewell, John Reardon as Nick Shadow, and Judith Raskin as Anne Trulove.

Betty Allen sang the role of Armando di Gondi in Gaetano Donizetti's Maria di Rohan with the AOS in February 1963 with Ilvo Ligabue in the title role and Lino Puglisi as Enrico.

Betty Allen returned to AOS again in 1965 to sing Zaida in Rossini's Il turco in Italia with Giorgio Tadeo as Selim, Judith Raskin as Fiorilla, Elfego Esparza as Don Geronio, Jerold Siena as Narciso, and Sherrill Milnes as Prosdocimo.

Betty Allen appeared in two operas at the Midsummer Musical Festival at Philharmonic Hall in the summer of 1963.

Betty Allen had a major triumph in 1964 as Jocasta in Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires.

Betty Allen made her San Francisco Opera debut two years later as Azucena in Il trovatore with McHenry Boatwright as the Count di Luna, later reprising that role with the company in 1971.

Betty Allen was committed to the New York City Opera from 1973 to 1975 where her roles included Azucena, Mistress Quickly in Falstaff, Jocasta in Oedipus rex, and Eurycleia in Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria.

At the Santa Fe Opera Betty Allen sang Pythia in Aribert Reimann's Melusine and Genevieve in Claude Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande in 1972.

Betty Allen returned to that house in 1975 to portray Mistress Quickly and the grandmother in Manuel de Falla's La vida breve.

Betty Allen made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as the Commere on February 20,1973, in a cast that included Clamma Dale as St Teresa I, David Britton as St Stephen, and Barbara Hendricks as St Settlement.

Betty Allen portrayed the role again in the Fall of 1975 at the Kennedy Center and in 1976 in New York City.

Betty Allen was highly active internationally as a concert singer and recitalist during the 1960s and 1970s.

Betty Allen appeared with a number of notable orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra and the American, Boston, Chicago, and Cincinnati symphony orchestras to name just a few.

Betty Allen appeared in recitals throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia.

Betty Allen's professional singing career was cut short by chronic lung problems which she blamed on her exposure to the Campbell, Ohio steel mills in her childhood.

Betty Allen served on the faculties of both the Curtis Institute of Music and the North Carolina School of the Arts.

In 1979 Betty Allen became the executive director of the Harlem School of the Arts, later becoming president in 1992.

Betty Allen was active as an adjudicator for many vocal competitions, such as the Metropolitan Opera Regional Auditions, the Young Concert Artists, and the Dutch International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch among others.

Betty Allen died in Valhalla, New York, at the age of 82.

Betty Allen was a member of the New York City Advisory Committee for Cultural Affairs.