Today's Beautiful Music features a significant singer in opera history: soprano Camilla Williams. She lived from 1919-2012, and ClassicFM described a few of her noteworthy accomplishments: "In 1946, soprano Camilla Williams became the first Black woman to secure a contract with a major US opera company, making her debut as Cio-Cio-San in New York City Opera’s Madam Butterfly. In 1954 she also became the first African American to sing a major role with the Vienna State Opera. The American operatic soprano notably performed a rendition of the National Anthem at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 before Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech."
Today's Beautiful Music features a 1946 recording of Camilla Williams singing SUMMERTIME.
