Shirley Verrett was born in New Orleans on the 31st of May in 1931. Her operatic debut was 1957 in Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia. Not the best choice, considering her family practiced Seventh-Day Adventism, and was not in agreement with her pursuing an opera career.
In 1968 she made her New York Metropolitan Opera debut with Bizet’s Carmen, and in 1969 at La Scala, in Samson and Dalila.
To honor her success, her arduous work, talent, and tribulations, I have invited her daughter, and her nephew to share their stories and memories of this unique diva who lived amongst them.
Please, feel free to join us in celebration on the date of her 90th birthdate, on Clubhouse.
Sila Blume 