23 Facts About Kathleen Battle

Kathleen Battle expanded her repertoire into lyric soprano and coloratura soprano roles during the 1980s and early 1990s, until her eventual dismissal from the Metropolitan Opera in 1994.

Kathleen Battle's later has focused on recording and the concert stage.

Kathleen Battle was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, US, the youngest of seven children.

Kathleen Battle was awarded a scholarship to the University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music, where she studied voice with Franklin Bens and worked with Italo Tajo.

Kathleen Battle's majored in music education, and proceeded to a master's degree in Music Education.

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Kathleen Battle made her professional operatic debut in 1975 as Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville with the Michigan Opera Theatre in Detroit.

Kathleen Battle's made her New York City Opera debut the following year as Susanna in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, and in 1977 made both her San Francisco Opera debut as Oscar in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera and her Metropolitan Opera debut as the Kathleen Battle'spherd in Wagner's Tannhauser.

Kathleen Battle made her Glyndebourne Festival debut singing Nerina in Haydn's La fedelta premiata in 1979.

In 1987 Karajan invited Kathleen Battle to sing Johann Strauss' Voices of Spring for the Vienna New Year's Day concert.

Kathleen Battle's returned to Salzburg various times to sing Susanna, Zerlina, and Despina, Mozart roles which she sang at several other opera houses during that period.

Kathleen Battle became an established artist at the Metropolitan Opera in the 1980s, singing more than 150 performances with the company in 13 different operas, including the Met's first production of Handel's Giulio Cesare.

Kathleen Battle's received the Laurence Olivier Award for her stage performance as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Royal Opera House, London.

Critical response to Kathleen Battle's performances had rarely varied throughout the years following her debut.

The contralto Marian Anderson, who had ended her farewell tour with a recital at Carnegie Hall in April 1965, was in the audience that night and Kathleen Battle dedicated Rachmaninoff's "In the Silence of the Secret Night" to her.

In May 1993 Kathleen Battle added pop music to her repertoire with the release of Janet Jackson's album Janet, lending her vocals to the song "This Time".

Kathleen Battle's won her fifth Grammy Award in 1993, singing the title role of Semele on the Deutsche Grammophon recording conducted by John Nelson.

Kathleen Battle was replaced in Donizetti's La fille du regiment by Harolyn Blackwell.

Kathleen Battle's was a featured guest artist on the May 1994 album Tenderness, singing a duet, "My Favorite Things", with Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Al Jarreau.

Kathleen Battle's released two albums in 1995: So Many Stars, a collection of folk songs, lullabies, and spirituals with Christian McBride and Grover Washington Jr.

Kathleen Battle has continued to pursue a number of diverse projects including the works of composers who are not associated with traditional classical music, performing the works of Vangelis, Stevie Wonder, and George Gershwin.

Kathleen Battle's is known for her performances of African-American spirituals.

Kathleen Battle's has performed with many orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, and the Orchestre de Paris.

Kathleen Battle lent voice to the song "This Time" on Janet Jackson's album Janet and sang the title song, "Lovers", for the 2004 Chinese action movie, House of Flying Daggers.