22 Facts About Mattiwilda Dobbs

Mattiwilda Dobbs was an American coloratura soprano and was one of the first black singers to enjoy a major international career in opera.

Mattiwilda Dobbs's was the first black singer to perform at La Scala in Italy, the first black woman to receive a long-term performance contract and to sing a lead role at the Metropolitan Opera, New York and the first black singer to play a lead role at the San Francisco Opera.

Mattiwilda Dobbs was born in Atlanta, Georgia, one of six daughters of John and Irene Mattiwilda Dobbs, who were leaders in the state's African-American community.

Mattiwilda Dobbs's began piano lessons at the age of seven, and sang in community and church choirs.

Mattiwilda Dobbs attended Spelman College where she studied home economics and considered becoming a fashion designer.

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Mattiwilda Dobbs won a number of scholarships, including the Marian Anderson Award in 1947, and a John Hay Whitney Fellowship.

Mattiwilda Dobbs initially performed in Europe as a concert recitalist; however, after winning the International Music Competition in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1951, she went on to sing at the major festivals and opera houses throughout the continent.

Mattiwilda Dobbs's made her professional operatic debut at the Holland Festival, as the Nightingale in Stravinsky's The Nightingale, in 1952.

Mattiwilda Dobbs's made her debut at the Glyndebourne Festival, as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, in 1953.

Mattiwilda Dobbs performed the role of Elvira in L'italiana in Algeri, which marked the first time a black artist sang in that opera house.

Mattiwilda Dobbs's made her debut at the Royal Opera House in London, as the Woodbird in Siegfried, in 1953.

Mattiwilda Dobbs's appeared at the Paris Opera, the Vienna State Opera, and at the opera houses of Hamburg and Stockholm.

Mattiwilda Dobbs's appeared at the San Francisco Opera in 1955, where she was the first African-American to play a lead role.

Mattiwilda Dobbs's later stated that this hurt her career as she declined offers of work in the southern states.

Mattiwilda Dobbs retired from performing in 1974, and began teaching at the University of Texas, where she was the first African-American on the faculty.

Mattiwilda Dobbs's continued her teaching career as professor of voice at Howard University in Washington, D C, before retiring to Arlington County, Virginia.

In 1989 Mattiwilda Dobbs was elected to the board of directors of the Metropolitan Opera.

Mattiwilda Dobbs's sang both Olympia and Antonia in a complete recording of The Tales of Hoffmann featuring Leopold Simoneau and Heinz Rehfuss, and conducted by Pierre-Michel Le Conte, which was issued in 1958 by Epic in stereo in the USA and by Concert Hall in Europe, and reissued on CD in 2008.

Mattiwilda Dobbs's recorded the title role of Zaide under Leibowitz in Paris in 1952, and excerpts from Rigoletto alongside Rolando Panerai.

In 1979, Mattiwilda Dobbs received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from Spelman College.

In 1983, Mattiwilda Dobbs received the James Weldon Johnson Award in Fine Arts from the Atlanta National Association for the Advancement of Colored People .

Mattiwilda Dobbs was the aunt of the first black Mayor of Atlanta, Maynard Jackson, and sang at his inauguration in January 1978.