Late opera star Jessye Norman's US hometown honors her life
Posted October 11, 2019 7:00 am
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - Renowned opera star Jessye Norman is being honored in her hometown with four days of celebrations and memorials.
Norman, who died Sept. 30 at 74 , had hoped to live long enough to attend the renaming of the street outside the Jessye Norman School of the Arts, which she opened in 2003 to provide free fine arts education to disadvantaged children.
The ceremony on the newly renamed Jessye Norman Boulevard honors one of the few black opera singers to gain worldwide stardom.
A block away, another street honors another Augusta music giant - James Brown - whose daughter Deanne Brown Thomas attended a second day of public viewing Friday at an Augusta church.
Norman's funeral is scheduled Saturday and a benefit concert for the school follows Sunday.
This 1984 image released by the Metropolitan Opera shows Jessye Norman in the title role of Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos," in New York. Norman died, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, at Mount Sinai St. Luke's Hospital in New York. She was 74. (Erika Davidson/Metropolitan Opera via AP)
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This 1995-1996 image released by the Metropolitan Opera shows soprano Jessye Norman as Emilia Marty in JanáÄek's "The Makropulos Case," in New York. Norman died, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, at Mount Sinai St. Luke's Hospital in New York. She was 74. (Erika Davidson/Metropolitan Opera via AP)
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FILE - This Dec. 8, 2013 file photo shows Jessye Norman at the 2013 Kennedy Center Honors at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. Norman died, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, at Mount Sinai St. Luke's Hospital in New York. She was 74. (Photo by Greg Allen/Invision/AP, File)
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This 1983 photo released by the Metropolitan Opera shows soprano Jessye Norman as Cassandre in Berlioz' "Les Troyens," the role of her Metropolitan Opera debut in New York. Norman died, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, at Mount Sinai St. Luke's Hospital in New York. She was 74. (Metropolitan Opera via AP)
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FILE - This Sept. 18, 2007 file photo shows soprano Jessye Norman performing during The Dream Concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Norman died, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, at Mount Sinai St. Luke's Hospital in New York. She was 74. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, File)
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FILE - This Dec. 5, 2010 file photo shows opera singer Jessye Norman at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington. Norman died, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, at Mount Sinai St. Luke's Hospital in New York. She was 74. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
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Mourners walk into the visitation for international opera star Jessye Norman at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Augusta, Ga., on Friday, Oct. 11, 2019. Norman died on Sept. 30 at age 74. Norman's passionate soprano voice won her four Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts and the Kennedy Center Honor. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
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Ladies from Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority line up outside Mt. Calvary Baptist Church for the viewing of opera star Jessye Norman in Augusta, Ga., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. (Michael Holahan/The Augusta Chronicle via AP)
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Deanna Brown Thomas, daughter of singer James Brown, greets Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority members outside Mt. Calvary Baptist Church before going in for the viewing of opera star Jessye Norman in Augusta, Ga., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. (Michael Holahan/The Augusta Chronicle via AP)
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