Opera singer Denyce Graves was born on March 7, 1964 in Washington, D.C. where she attended the Duke Ellington School for the Performing Arts. She studied at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and the New England Conservatory. Graves made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in the 1995-96 season in the title role of Carmen. Graves became well-known to operatic audiences for her portrayals of the title roles in Carmen and Samson et Dalila. These roles brought Graves to the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna Staatsoper, Royal Opera - Covent Garden, San Francisco Opera, Opera National de Paris, Lyric Opera of Chicago and countless other venues. In 1998, Graves received an honorary doctorate from Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. She was named one of the Fifty Leaders of Tomorrow by Ebony magazine and was one of Glamour magazine's Women of the Year in 1997. In 2003, Graves was appointed cultural ambassador for the United States.
Alternative title
History Makers video oral history with Denyce Graves