Mary Violet Leontyne Price (born February 10, 1927) is an American soprano who was the first African American soprano to receive international acclaim.
From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera, where she was the first African American to be a leading performer. She regularly appeared at the world’s major opera houses, the Royal Opera House, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and La Scala, the last of which she was also the first African American to sing a leading role at. She was particularly renowned for her performances of the title role in Verdi’s Aida.
Born in Laurel, Mississippi, Price attended Central State University and then Juilliard, where she had her operatic debut as Mistress Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff. Having heard the performance, Virgil Thomson engaged her in Four Saints in Three Acts and she then toured—starring alongside her husband William Warfield—in a successful revival of Gerswhin’s Porgy and Bess. Numerous concert performances followed, such as a recital at the Library of Congress with composer Samuel Barber on piano. Her 1955 performance in a televised performance of Puccini’s Tosca and appearances at the San Francisco Opera as Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites and Aida brought her to international attention. She then performed at the world’s major opera houses with Aida, before a successful debut at the Metropolitan Opera (Met) in 1961 as Leonora in Verdi’s Il trovatore.
Continuing her career there, she starred in a multitude of operas for 20 years, securing her place among the leading performers of her time. One of these works was Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra, which she starred in for its world premiere. She made her farewell opera performance at the Met in 1985 in Aida.