THE TRAILBLAZER SERIES: Soprano Leona Mitchell

Legendary Metropolitan Opera soprano Leona Mitchell drops in on Patrick D. McCoy, The African American Voice in Classical Music to discuss her only New York City appearance this weekend with the Metro Chamber Orchestra.

After her debut in Carmen with the San Francisco Opera,  Ms. Mitchell made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the same opera n 1975. Her recording of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess with Lorin Maazel and the Cleveland Orchestra brought her international acclaim.  Several recordings and television appearances are all to her credit. 

A Grammy Award Winning Soprano, Mitchell sang for 18 seasons with the The Metropolitan Opera.  Appearances in other great houses include Paris, Covent Garden, Vienna, Rome, Australia, Buenos Aires, San Francisco, Chicago, Caracalla, and The Orange Festival amongst others. She has also appeared with some major symphony orchestras including those in London, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and many others.

Miss Mitchell has sung for four of US Presidents: Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. She has also sung for many dignitaries: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Honorable Saundra Day O'Connor, and Bishop Tutu.

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