Sounds of Learning

This week on Opera-Online we pay tribute to one of America's greatest singers, Shirley Verrett who passed away late last week at the age of 79. She was internationally regarded as a dynamic singing actress. Her voice was not just beautiful, but was amazingly powerful and her technique was impeccable. Ms. Verrett achieved recognition as one of the world's great artist. Born into a devout Seventh-day Adventists family in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1931, Ms. Verrett was raised in Los Angeles, California. She sang in church and showed early musical abilities, but initially a singing career was frowned upon by her family. Later she went on to study at the Juilliard School in New York and won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1961. Ms. Verrett's rare combination of vocal gifts, unequaled presence, and elegant style has made her a star at the world's great opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the B...

This week we honor National Opera Week - a week long celebration of the art form sponsored by OPERA America , a national service organization. The Opera Company of Philadelphia celebrated National Opera Week with a series of events launched by a massive public performance of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah . Over 650 singers from almost 30 organizations descended on Macy's in Center City Philadelphia to sing this well-known and well-loved favorite, accompanied by the Wanamaker Organ . With over 28,000 pipes, it's the world's largest pipe organ! It launches the Opera Company of Philadelphia's collaboration with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation's Random Acts of Culture initiative which is dedicated to producing 1,000 random acts over the next three years. VIDEO CLIPS OF THE WEEK: In honor of National Opera Week and Random Acts of Culture, we showcase the Opera Company of Philadelphia's two random acts. The Hallelujah Chorus from Oct...