When the names were announced for this year’s Kennedy Center Honors, many people may have been satisfied when they heard The Boss’ name, Bruce Springsteen or perhaps film legend Robert DeNiro, noted jazz musician Dave Brubeck or director Mel Brooks . In fact, many people probably overlooked the lone sister on the list, 72 year-old opera great Grace Bumbry. When the awards are televised later this month, we’ll get the see the Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin, bestow the award of Bumbry. Yes Diva will honor Diva (with no wannabes in sight). And we should tune in because Bumbry deserves to be both recognized and remembered.

We don’t hear Bumbry’s named bandied about much these days. Part of the reason is that she makes her home in Salzburg, Austria and spent the better part of her career in productions in Europe. She rose to prominence back in the 1960s because she was cast as “The Black Venus” in Wieland Wagner’s production of “Tannhäuser” . And let’s just say that casting a black woman as “Black Venus” was thought to be out of the box. People protested and then probably showed up because maybe they thought she’d fall flat on her face. But Bumbry stunned them into silence and later 42 curtain calls. Bumbry told The Washington Post:

“I was actually motionless on my throne,” she recalls now of the role. Wieland Wagner (the composer’s grandson, who revolutionized Wagnerian stage direction with his minimal, deeply considered productions, and who defended Bumbry by saying, “My grandfather wrote for vocal color, not skin color”) “wanted facial expressions and he wanted the sound to come from inside, not just some lovely movement onstage.”

Bumbry sang roles like Carmen and Amneris (”Aida”) at the Paris Opera House, Convent Garden and La Scala before being invited home to sing at the Kennedy White House. (Apparently she was invited by the FLOTUS). She continued to ruffle feathers in the opera world by changing her vocal designation—mezzo-soprano to soprano (and then back again)—which enabled her to tackle the roles of Aida, Salome and Lady MacBeth. Even if you’re not a big opera fan trust that the move basically put in place to sing prime roles which she landed time and again. But her diva style wasn’t (and still isn’t) limited to the stage. She drove around town in an orange Lamborghini at the height of her career. Although she gave her last ‘official’ performance in 1997 she still give recitals now and then while she holds it down as a teacher and competition judge. Students still fly out to Salzburg to learn a thing or two from her to this day because this diva has not decided to quit yet.

Bumbry’s great career clearly came about not only because she had the talent but because she made the move to Europe. How many sisters with voices toiled here and never made it? Probably too many to count.  For so long our folks had to look elsewhere to find recognition of their talent (when acceptance of it was so lacking on their home soil). But clearly for Bumbry getting recognized at home still has meaning. She told The Associated Press:

“It tops all of them,” she said. “First of all it’s my country, and secondly it’s the greatest award we have in this country for the arts.”

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