Friday, September 4, 2015

Dominique-René de Lerma: President Obama to Honor George Shirley

George Shirley

Dominique-René de Lerma:


PRESIDENT OBAMA TO HONOR GEORGE SHIRLEY

In the East Room of the White on 10 September, President Obama will confer the National Medal of Arts on tenor George Shirley for his life of dedication to the arts.

Professor Shirley joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 1987, where he  served as the Joseph Edgar Maddy Distinguished University Professor of Music anajor roles.  His brilliant career included engagements at London’s Royal Opera, Berlin’s Deutsche Oper, the Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), Amsterdam’s Netherlands Opera, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, the Scottish Opera, and Glyndebourne, as well as the major American companies. He was selected by Stravinsky to record that composer’s Oedipus Rex, Pulcinella, and Renard, with Stravinsky conducting.

Before his move to Ann Arbor he was on the faculties of the University of Maryland-College Park and at Morgan State University.  More than a generation of artists and teachers are products of his studio, and he has given hisd Director of the Vocal Arts Division.  For eleven seasons he was the first Black leading tenor with the Metropolitan Opera, celebrated for his performances particularly of Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Wagner, and Debussy – a total of more than 80 m advice and support freely and generously to yet many more.


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Winner of a Grammy, he has been honored by the National Association of Teachers of Singing and holds honorary degrees from Wilberforce University, Montclair State College, Lake Forest College, and the University of Northern Iowa.

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