[78-L] Camilla Williams, RIP (78 artist)

[warren moorman]

Soprano Camilla Williams, the first black artist to have a full contract with a major American opera, died Sunday in Bloomington, Ind. at age 92. A native of Danville, Va., she appeared regularly on network radio before signing with the New York City Opera. She sang the role of Bess in the first full length recording of Porgy and Bess with conductor Lehman Engel in 1951. She toured widely, and also sang the national anthem immediately before Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech in 1963. Later she taught at Indiana University.