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Barbara Hendricks

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Barbara Hendricks is an American lyric soprano and a humanitarian ambassador. She was born in 1948 in Stephens, Arkansas, the daughter of a minister and a teacher, and grew up in the southern United States with the Black musical tradition. She studied chemistry and mathematics at the University of Nebraska before becoming a singer. In 1974 she made her opera debut at Glyndebourne and at the San Francisco Opera. She has lived in Europe since 1977, and in Switzerland since 1985.

Music and breakthrough

She sang in major opera houses, including in Paris, New York, London and Milan, and in 1998 sang the role of Liù in Turandot in the Forbidden City in Beijing. She recorded Porgy and Bess in 1976, Barbara Hendricks Sings Gershwin in 1981 and Negro Spirituals in 1983. In 1994 she made her debut as a jazz singer at the Montreux festival, and since then she has performed at major jazz festivals. She also made chamber music and organised festivals. In 2004 she sang in Paris at the world premiere of Angels in America by Péter Eötvös. In 2006 she left EMI and founded her own label, Arte Verum. Since 1987 she has been an ambassador for the United Nations refugee agency.

Influence

Hendricks combines classical singing with spirituals, Gershwin and jazz. Her voice is warm and clear, and shows how the Black musical tradition and the opera house can meet.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Negro Spirituals from 1983. Notice the simplicity of the accompaniment and how the warm voice lets each song unfold calmly.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists