Camilla Williams

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Camilla Williams photo taken by Carl Van Vechten, 1946.
Camilla Williams photo taken by Carl Van Vechten, 1946.

Camilla Ella Williams (born October 18, 1919) is an American operatic soprano and the first African American to receive a contract with a major American opera company.

Born in Danville, Virginia, Williams trained at Virginia State College (now Virginia State University). After receiving a B.S. there, she studied privately in New York. She earned a Marian Anderson Fellowship in 1943 and again in 1944. She continued to receive honors in vocal competitions. Williams then performed on the coast-to-coast RCA radio network. In May 1946 she debuted with the New York City Opera singing the title role in Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Williams sang throughout the United States and Europe with various other opera companies. In April 1954 she became the first African American to sing a major role with the Vienna State Opera when she performed her signature part of Cio-Cio-San. Williams was appointed to the faculty of Indiana University in 1977. She was one of the pioneering African American singers profiled in Aida's Brothers and Sisters: Black Voices in Opera, a PBS documentary first broadcast in February 2000. Williams was also profiled in the 2006 PBS documentary The Mystery of Love. She was one of eight women honored by the Library of Virginia during Women's History Month in 2007 as part of its Virginia Women in History project.

Williams continues to live in Bloomington, Indiana. She is an outspoken member of her community and a very lively person to be around.

She married Charles T. Beavers, a lawyer.

[edit] References

  • Elizabeth Nash. "A Day with Camilla Williams." Opera Quarterly 18, no. 2 (2002): 219-230.

[edit] External links


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