Martina Arroyo (born February 2, 1937) is an American operatic soprano who had a major international opera career from the 1960s through the 1980s. She was part of the first generation of black opera singers to achieve wide success.

Arroyo first rose to prominence at the Zurich Opera between 1963 and 1965, and then was one of the Metropolitan Opera's leading sopranos between 1965 and 1978. During those years at the Metropolitan Opera, she was also a regular presence at the world's opera houses, performing on the stages of La Scala, Covent Garden, the Opéra National de Paris, the Teatro Colón, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Vienna State Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the San Francisco Opera. She is best known for her performances of the Italian spinto repertoire, and in particular, her portrayals of Verdi and Puccini heroines. Her last opera performance was in 1991, after which she has devoted her time to teaching singing on the faculties of various universities in the United States and Europe. On December 8, 2013, Arroyo received a Kennedy Center Honor.

Arroyo was born in New York City, the younger of two children of Demetrio Arroyo, originally from Puerto Rico, and Lucille Washington, a native of Charleston, South Carolina. Her older brother grew up to become a Baptist minister. The family lived in Harlem near St. Nicholas Avenue and 111th Street. Her father was a mechanical engineer at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and earned a good salary which enabled Arroyo's mother to stay at home with their children. His job also allowed the family to experience New York's cultural offerings and the family frequented museums, concerts, and the theatre. It was attending several performances of Broadway shows during the 1940s that first inspired Arroyo's interest in becoming a performer. Her mother humored her dreams and allowed Arroyo to take ballet classes. Her mother was also a talented amateur classical pianist and taught her daughter to play the instrument. Arroyo's other musical experiences as a child were largely through singing in the choirs at her Baptist church and as a student at Hunter College High School.

After finishing high school in 1953, Arroyo attended Hunter College where she earned a B.A. in Romance languages in 1956 at the age of nineteen. While there she studied voice as a hobby in an opera workshop with Joseph Turnau. Turnau recognized that Arroyo was a major talent who just needed proper training. After the workshop ended, he introduced her to voice instructor Marinka Gurewich, who immediately accepted her as a student. When Arroyo did not take her training as seriously as her teacher wanted, Gurewich eventually threatened to end their lessons. Arroyo said of the incident, "It was a real wake-up call. Up to then, I must have been, in my mind, treating singing as a hobby, a lark—something I loved that I was dabbling in". ...

Source: Article "Martina Arroyo" from Wikipedia in english, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Martina Arroyo (née le 2 février 1936 à New York) est une soprano afro-américaine, particulièrement admirée dans les opéras de Verdi.

Martina Arroyo étudie au Hunter College, puis en privé avec Marinka Gurewich. Elle fait ses débuts au Carnegie Hall de New York en 1958, dans la première américaine de Meurtre dans la cathédrale de Ildebrando Pizzetti. La même année elle gagne au concours «Auditions of the Met», et fait ses débuts au Metropolitan Opera en 1959, dans la voix céleste de Don Carlos. Après y avoir chanté de petits rôles, elle se rend en Europe en 1962 et se produit bientôt dans les premiers rôles sur plusieurs grandes scènes européennes. De retour au Met, elle remplace au pied levé Birgit Nilsson dans Aida, en 1965.

Dès lors, c'est le départ d'une grande carrière internationale où elle brille particulièrement dans les grands roles verdiens; Ernani, Macbeth, Il trovatore, I vespri siciliani, Un ballo in maschera, La forza del destino, etc., mais aussi dans Les Huguenots, L'Africaine, Norma, La Gioconda, Cavalleria rusticana, Madame Butterfly, etc.

En 1964, elle est apparue sur la réseau de télévision CBS, sous la direction du chef d'orchestre Alfredo Antonini dans un épisode de la série télévisée CBS Repertoire Workshop - Feliz Borinquen. Le programme a présenté des chanteurs, des acteurs et des danseurs de Porto Rico avec l'Orchestre Symphonique de CBS.

Arroyo est surtout remarquable pour la fluidité de sa voix et sa facilité de passage du grave à l'aigu en conservant toujours la rondeur du son.

En janvier 2013, elle était membre du jury au concours Paris Opera Awards.

Source: Article "Martina Arroyo" de Wikipédia en français, soumis à la licence CC-BY-SA 3.0.