Marguerite Piazza was an American soprano, entertainer and philanthropist from New Orleans, Louisiana.
12 Facts About Marguerite Piazza
1.
2.
In 1940, Piazza earned a degree from Loyola University of the South's College of Music.
3.
Marguerite Piazza attended Louisiana State University, where she was a student of the baritone Pasquale Amato.
4.
Marguerite Piazza was the first Queen of the Krewe of Virgilians during Mardi Gras in her native New Orleans.
5.
Marguerite Piazza made her first appearance with the New Orleans Opera Association in Martha, followed by Hansel und Gretel, as well as the title role in Il segreto di Susanna.
6.
In 1950, Marguerite Piazza made her Broadway debut, in Happy as Larry, with Burgess Meredith directing and starring in the title role, and Alexander Calder designing.
7.
Marguerite Piazza made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1951, as Rosalinde von Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus.
8.
Marguerite Piazza performed and was a noted philanthropist in her adopted hometown of Memphis, where she was a longtime supporter of St Jude Children's Research Hospital.
9.
Marguerite Piazza sang the national anthem at no fewer than twenty-seven Liberty Bowl football games.
10.
Marguerite Piazza was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2016, becoming the first opera singer to be honored by the organization.
11.
Marguerite Piazza had six children; one of her sons died by suicide.
12.
Marguerite Piazza died in Memphis, Tennessee, on August 2,2012, aged 92, from congestive heart failure, and was survived by her five children and large extended family.