Bumbry was born in St Louis, Missouri, in a family of modest means. In a BBC radio interview, she recalled that her father was a railroad porter and her mother, a housewife. She graduated from the prestigious Charles Sumner High School (the first black high school west of the Mississippi). She first won a radio competition at age 17, singing Verdi's demanding aria "O don fatale" (from 'Don Carlo'). One of the prizes she won was a scholarship to the local music conservatory; however, as the institution was segregated, it would not accept a Black student. Embarrassed, the radio station arranged for her to study at Boston University. She later transferred to Northwestern University, where she met the famous German dramatic soprano Lotte Lehmann, with whom she later studied at the Music Academy of the West, in Santa Barbara, California, and who became her mentor in her early career. In 1958, she was a joint winner of the Metropolitan Opera auditions, with soprano Martina Arroyo. Bumbry made her operatic debut in 1960 when she sang Amneris at the Paris Opéra; that same year she joined the Basel Opera. She gained international renown when she was cast by Wieland Wagner (Richard Wagner's grandson) as Venus at Bayreuth in 1961, the first Black singer to appear there. The cast also included Victoria de los Angeles as Elisabeth and Wolfgang Windgassen as Tannhäuser. Conservative Germans were appalled, and the ensuing furore made her a cause célèbre internationally. She was subsequently invited by Jacqueline Kennedy to sing at the White House. Having begun her operatic career on such a high note, hers was a rare one in which she never sang small or comprimario roles.

Bumbry made her Royal Opera House, Covent Garden debut in 1963; her La Scala debut in 1964; and her Metropolitan Opera debut as Princess Eboli in Verdi's Don Carlo in 1965. In 1964, Bumbry appeared for the first time as a soprano, singing Verdi's Lady MacBeth in her debut at the Vienna State Opera. In 1966, she appeared as Carmen in a celebrated production by Herbert von Karajan in Salzburg. In the 1970's, she began taking on more soprano roles, including Strauss's Salome at Covent Garden, and Tosca at the Met; and more unusual roles, such as Janacek's Jenufa (in Italian) at La Scala in 1974 (with Magda Olivero as the Kostelnicka), Dukas's Ariane et Barbe-bleue in Paris in 1975, and Sélika in Meyerbeer's 'L'Africaine' at Covent Garden in 1978 (opposite Plácido Domingo as Vasco). Like many in her generation, she aspired to emulate Maria Callas and undertook many dramatic soprano roles associated with the Greek diva, such as Norma, Medea, Abigaille and Gioconda. She first sang Norma in 1977 in Martina Franca, Italy; the following year, she sang both Norma and Adalgisa in the same production at Covent Garden: first as the younger priestess opposite Montserrrat Caballé as Norma; later, as Norma, with Josephine Veasey as Adalgisa.

Other noted soprano roles included: Santuzza, Cassandre, Chimène (in 'Le Cid'), Elisabeth (in 'Tannhäuser'), Elvira (in 'Ernani'), Leonora (in both 'Il Trovatore' and 'Forza del Destino'), Aida, Turandot and Bess. Other major mezzo-soprano roles in her repertory included: Dalila, Didon (in 'Les Troyens'), Massenet's Hérodiade, Laura, Adalgisa, Ulrica, Azucena, Orfeo, Poppea and Baba the Turk. In 1991, at the opening of the new Bastille Opera, she appeared as Cassandre, with Shirley Verrett as Didon. Due to a strike at the opera, Verrett was unable to perform at the re-scheduled last performance (this is recounted in Verrett's autobiography), and Bumbry sang both Cassandre and Didon in the same evening. Her last operatic appearance was as Klytämnestra in Richard Strauss's 'Elektra' in Lyon, in 1997. She has since devoted herself to teaching and judging international competitions; and to the concert stage, giving a series of recitals in 2001 and 2002 in honor of her teacher, Lotte Lehmann. A DVD of the recital at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris was later issued by TDK.

Of her recorded legacy, there's much from her mezzo period, including 2 Carmens and 2 Amneris, Venus, Eboli and Orfeo. There are no commercially released complete operas with her in a soprano role, except for live performances of 'Le Cid,' 'Jenufa' and 'Norma,' but there are some commercial compilations that include arias in the soprano repertoire. Interestingly enough, some of these were recorded in her "mezzo" period, in the 1960's (including excerpts of 'La Forza del Destino' in German, with Bumbry as Leonora, and Nicolai Gedda as Alvaro).

She has been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame. Among other honors, she was bestowed the UNESCO Award, the Distinguised Alumna Award from the Academy of Music of the West, Italy's Premio Giuseppe Verdi, and was named Commandeur des Arts et Lettres by the French Government.

For interviews with Bumbry, go to:

http://culturekiosque.com/opera/intervie/rhebumb.htm

http://trubadur.pl/main_biul_a.html

http://www.musicacademy.org/Alumni/AwardRecipients.html

http://www.omm.de/feuilleton/interview-grace-bumbry.html

(the latter in German only)

An article in the OperaNews magazine, by playwright Albert Innaurato can be found at: