Mattiwilda Dobbs [Handelman may safely ignore this post]

[ljo]

Why doesn't anybody ever talk about the wonderful Mattiwilda Dobbs? Listen
to her sing the two Schubert songs here and then come back and read the rest
if you're interested. What a grand human being! :

http://www.charm.kcl.ac.uk/content/schubert_songs/index.html
Mattiwilda Dobbs's exceptional vocal gifts and musical skill enabled her to
cross color barriers to become an internationally known opera star. The
Atlanta native was the first African American to sing at La Scala in Milan,
Italy, and the first black woman to be offered a long-term contract by the
Metropolitan Opera Company in New York.

Named for her maternal grandmother, Mattie Wilda Sykes, Mattiwilda Dobbs was
born on July 11, 1925. She was the fifth of six daughters born to Irene and
John Wesley Dobbs, who were leaders in the African American community of
Atlanta's Auburn Avenue area. Like her sisters, she began piano lessons at
the age of seven, sang in community and church choirs, and attended Spelman
College, where she began to study voice. Naturally shy, she was so nervous
at her first solo appearances that she had to lean on the piano for support,
but her unusual talent and quality of voice persuaded her father to fund
further studies in New York. She studied with Lotte Leonard and won a Marian
Anderson Award, among other scholarships, and a John Hay Whitney Fellowship,
which enabled her to study in Europe.

Dobbs's coloratura soprano was praised for its freshness and agility, as
well as for the beauty of its tone. After winning the International Music
Competition in Geneva, in Switzerland, in 1951, she sang in major festivals
and opera houses throughout Europe, including La Scala in 1953. Her American
debut was in 1954 at a recital in New York. She sang the role of Gilda in
Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto for her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in
1956. Although Marian Anderson, a black opera singer from Pennsylvania, had
preceded her to that stage in 1955, Dobbs was the first African American
woman to be offered a long-term contract by the Met; she sang twenty-nine
performances, in six roles, over eight seasons.

Although she remained close to her family and performed in Atlanta several
times, personal as well as professional considerations prevented Dobbs from
making the city her home. She lived in Spain with her first husband, Luis
Rodriguez, who died of a liver ailment in June 1954, fourteen months after
their wedding. She then married Bengt Janzon, a Swedish newspaperman, just
before Christmas 1957. Her family attended the wedding, but because of the
stir an interracial marriage would have caused in the segregated South, the
ceremony was held in New York, and the new couple made their home in Sweden.
Bengt Janzon did not visit Atlanta until 1967.

Following the example set by African American performer and activist Paul
Robeson, Dobbs refused to perform for segregated audiences. In Atlanta she
could have performed in African American churches or colleges, but she was
not able to perform for a large integrated audience until the Atlanta City
Auditorium was desegregated in 1962, when she was joined onstage and given a
key to the city by Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. It was the first of many
performances in her home city. Before the organization of the Atlanta Opera
in 1985, Dobbs performed in operas produced and directed by the acclaimed
opera singer Blanche Thebom, and in 1974 she sang at the gala marking the
inauguration of her nephew Maynard Jackson as mayor of Atlanta.

In 1974, after retiring from the stage, Dobbs began a teaching career at the
University of Texas, where she was the first African American artist on the
faculty. She spent the 1974-75 school year as artist-in-residence at Spelman
College, giving recitals and teaching master classes. In 1979 Spelman
awarded honorary doctorates to both Dobbs and Marian Anderson.

Dobbs continued her teaching career as professor of voice at Howard
University, in Washington, D.C. She served on the board of the Metropolitan
Opera and on the National Endowment of the Arts Solo Recital Panel. Dobbs
continued to give recitals until as late as 1990 before retiring to
Arlington, Virginia, where she currently resides.

[Flora Amici]

Post by ljo
Why doesn't anybody ever talk about the wonderful Mattiwilda Dobbs? Listen
to her sing the two Schubert songs here and then come back and read the rest
http://www.charm.kcl.ac.uk/content/schubert_songs/index.html
Mattiwilda Dobbs's exceptional vocal gifts and musical skill enabled her to
cross color barriers to become an internationally known opera star. The
Atlanta native was the first African American to sing at La Scala in Milan,
Italy, and the first black woman to be offered a long-term contract by the
Metropolitan Opera Company in New York.
Named for her maternal grandmother, Mattie Wilda Sykes, Mattiwilda Dobbs was
born on July 11, 1925. She was the fifth of six daughters born to Irene and
John Wesley Dobbs, who were leaders in the African American community of
Atlanta's Auburn Avenue area. Like her sisters, she began piano lessons at
the age of seven, sang in community and church choirs, and attended Spelman
College, where she began to study voice. Naturally shy, she was so nervous
at her first solo appearances that she had to lean on the piano for support,
but her unusual talent and quality of voice persuaded her father to fund
further studies in New York. She studied with Lotte Leonard and won a Marian
Anderson Award, among other scholarships, and a John Hay Whitney Fellowship,
which enabled her to study in Europe.
Dobbs's coloratura soprano was praised for its freshness and agility, as
well as for the beauty of its tone. After winning the International Music
Competition in Geneva, in Switzerland, in 1951, she sang in major festivals
and opera houses throughout Europe, including La Scala in 1953. Her American
debut was in 1954 at a recital in New York. She sang the role of Gilda in
Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto for her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in
1956. Although Marian Anderson, a black opera singer from Pennsylvania, had
preceded her to that stage in 1955, Dobbs was the first African American
woman to be offered a long-term contract by the Met; she sang twenty-nine
performances, in six roles, over eight seasons.
Although she remained close to her family and performed in Atlanta several
times, personal as well as professional considerations prevented Dobbs from
making the city her home. She lived in Spain with her first husband, Luis
Rodriguez, who died of a liver ailment in June 1954, fourteen months after
their wedding. She then married Bengt Janzon, a Swedish newspaperman, just
before Christmas 1957. Her family attended the wedding, but because of the
stir an interracial marriage would have caused in the segregated South, the
ceremony was held in New York, and the new couple made their home in Sweden.
Bengt Janzon did not visit Atlanta until 1967.
Following the example set by African American performer and activist Paul
Robeson, Dobbs refused to perform for segregated audiences. In Atlanta she
could have performed in African American churches or colleges, but she was
not able to perform for a large integrated audience until the Atlanta City
Auditorium was desegregated in 1962, when she was joined onstage and given a
key to the city by Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. It was the first of many
performances in her home city. Before the organization of the Atlanta Opera
in 1985, Dobbs performed in operas produced and directed by the acclaimed
opera singer Blanche Thebom, and in 1974 she sang at the gala marking the
inauguration of her nephew Maynard Jackson as mayor of Atlanta.
In 1974, after retiring from the stage, Dobbs began a teaching career at the
University of Texas, where she was the first African American artist on the
faculty. She spent the 1974-75 school year as artist-in-residence at Spelman
College, giving recitals and teaching master classes. In 1979 Spelman
awarded honorary doctorates to both Dobbs and Marian Anderson.
Dobbs continued her teaching career as professor of voice at Howard
University, in Washington, D.C. She served on the board of the Metropolitan
Opera and on the National Endowment of the Arts Solo Recital Panel. Dobbs
continued to give recitals until as late as 1990 before retiring to
Arlington, Virginia, where she currently resides.

I saw her Gilda w.Gobbi

[ljo]

Post by ljo
Why doesn't anybody ever talk about the wonderful Mattiwilda Dobbs? Listen
to her sing the two Schubert songs here and then come back and read the rest
http://www.charm.kcl.ac.uk/content/schubert_songs/index.html
Mattiwilda Dobbs's exceptional vocal gifts and musical skill enabled her to
cross color barriers to become an internationally known opera star. The
Atlanta native was the first African American to sing at La Scala in Milan,
Italy, and the first black woman to be offered a long-term contract by the
Metropolitan Opera Company in New York.

I saw her Gilda w.Gobbi >

Tell us about her mannerisms.

[Daniel Kessler]

I recall her Gilda at the "old" Met...it wasn't anything terribly special...

Post by ljo
Why doesn't anybody ever talk about the wonderful Mattiwilda Dobbs? Listen
to her sing the two Schubert songs here and then come back and read the rest
http://www.charm.kcl.ac.uk/content/schubert_songs/index.html
Mattiwilda Dobbs's exceptional vocal gifts and musical skill enabled her to
cross color barriers to become an internationally known opera star. The
Atlanta native was the first African American to sing at La Scala in Milan,
Italy, and the first black woman to be offered a long-term contract by the
Metropolitan Opera Company in New York.
Named for her maternal grandmother, Mattie Wilda Sykes, Mattiwilda Dobbs was
born on July 11, 1925. She was the fifth of six daughters born to Irene and
John Wesley Dobbs, who were leaders in the African American community of
Atlanta's Auburn Avenue area. Like her sisters, she began piano lessons at
the age of seven, sang in community and church choirs, and attended Spelman
College, where she began to study voice. Naturally shy, she was so nervous
at her first solo appearances that she had to lean on the piano for support,
but her unusual talent and quality of voice persuaded her father to fund
further studies in New York. She studied with Lotte Leonard and won a Marian
Anderson Award, among other scholarships, and a John Hay Whitney Fellowship,
which enabled her to study in Europe.
Dobbs's coloratura soprano was praised for its freshness and agility, as
well as for the beauty of its tone. After winning the International Music
Competition in Geneva, in Switzerland, in 1951, she sang in major festivals
and opera houses throughout Europe, including La Scala in 1953. Her American
debut was in 1954 at a recital in New York. She sang the role of Gilda in
Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto for her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in
1956. Although Marian Anderson, a black opera singer from Pennsylvania, had
preceded her to that stage in 1955, Dobbs was the first African American
woman to be offered a long-term contract by the Met; she sang twenty-nine
performances, in six roles, over eight seasons.
Although she remained close to her family and performed in Atlanta several
times, personal as well as professional considerations prevented Dobbs from
making the city her home. She lived in Spain with her first husband, Luis
Rodriguez, who died of a liver ailment in June 1954, fourteen months after
their wedding. She then married Bengt Janzon, a Swedish newspaperman, just
before Christmas 1957. Her family attended the wedding, but because of the
stir an interracial marriage would have caused in the segregated South, the
ceremony was held in New York, and the new couple made their home in Sweden.
Bengt Janzon did not visit Atlanta until 1967.
Following the example set by African American performer and activist Paul
Robeson, Dobbs refused to perform for segregated audiences. In Atlanta she
could have performed in African American churches or colleges, but she was
not able to perform for a large integrated audience until the Atlanta City
Auditorium was desegregated in 1962, when she was joined onstage and given a
key to the city by Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. It was the first of many
performances in her home city. Before the organization of the Atlanta Opera
in 1985, Dobbs performed in operas produced and directed by the acclaimed
opera singer Blanche Thebom, and in 1974 she sang at the gala marking the
inauguration of her nephew Maynard Jackson as mayor of Atlanta.
In 1974, after retiring from the stage, Dobbs began a teaching career at the
University of Texas, where she was the first African American artist on the
faculty. She spent the 1974-75 school year as artist-in-residence at Spelman
College, giving recitals and teaching master classes. In 1979 Spelman
awarded honorary doctorates to both Dobbs and Marian Anderson.
Dobbs continued her teaching career as professor of voice at Howard
University, in Washington, D.C. She served on the board of the Metropolitan
Opera and on the National Endowment of the Arts Solo Recital Panel. Dobbs
continued to give recitals until as late as 1990 before retiring to
Arlington, Virginia, where she currently resides.

[REG]

Actually, ljo started another thread on her in March of last year. I suppose
there's no harm in asking twice. I've seen others do it. I wonder if she
ever sang any Mahler.

I thought her Constanze very graceful on the Menuhin recording (now
available again on Chandos), but it's obviously a very small and somewhat
colorless instrument, and her commercial Pearl Fishers and Hoffman are
rather plain.

Post by Daniel Kessler
I recall her Gilda at the "old" Met...it wasn't anything terribly special...

Post by ljo
Why doesn't anybody ever talk about the wonderful Mattiwilda Dobbs? Listen
to her sing the two Schubert songs here and then come back and read the rest
http://www.charm.kcl.ac.uk/content/schubert_songs/index.html
Mattiwilda Dobbs's exceptional vocal gifts and musical skill enabled her to
cross color barriers to become an internationally known opera star. The
Atlanta native was the first African American to sing at La Scala in Milan,
Italy, and the first black woman to be offered a long-term contract by the
Metropolitan Opera Company in New York.
Named for her maternal grandmother, Mattie Wilda Sykes, Mattiwilda Dobbs was
born on July 11, 1925. She was the fifth of six daughters born to Irene and
John Wesley Dobbs, who were leaders in the African American community of
Atlanta's Auburn Avenue area. Like her sisters, she began piano lessons at
the age of seven, sang in community and church choirs, and attended Spelman
College, where she began to study voice. Naturally shy, she was so nervous
at her first solo appearances that she had to lean on the piano for support,
but her unusual talent and quality of voice persuaded her father to fund
further studies in New York. She studied with Lotte Leonard and won a Marian
Anderson Award, among other scholarships, and a John Hay Whitney Fellowship,
which enabled her to study in Europe.
Dobbs's coloratura soprano was praised for its freshness and agility, as
well as for the beauty of its tone. After winning the International Music
Competition in Geneva, in Switzerland, in 1951, she sang in major festivals
and opera houses throughout Europe, including La Scala in 1953. Her American
debut was in 1954 at a recital in New York. She sang the role of Gilda in
Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto for her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in
1956. Although Marian Anderson, a black opera singer from Pennsylvania, had
preceded her to that stage in 1955, Dobbs was the first African American
woman to be offered a long-term contract by the Met; she sang twenty-nine
performances, in six roles, over eight seasons.
Although she remained close to her family and performed in Atlanta several
times, personal as well as professional considerations prevented Dobbs from
making the city her home. She lived in Spain with her first husband, Luis
Rodriguez, who died of a liver ailment in June 1954, fourteen months after
their wedding. She then married Bengt Janzon, a Swedish newspaperman, just
before Christmas 1957. Her family attended the wedding, but because of the
stir an interracial marriage would have caused in the segregated South, the
ceremony was held in New York, and the new couple made their home in Sweden.
Bengt Janzon did not visit Atlanta until 1967.
Following the example set by African American performer and activist Paul
Robeson, Dobbs refused to perform for segregated audiences. In Atlanta she
could have performed in African American churches or colleges, but she was
not able to perform for a large integrated audience until the Atlanta City
Auditorium was desegregated in 1962, when she was joined onstage and given a
key to the city by Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. It was the first of many
performances in her home city. Before the organization of the Atlanta Opera
in 1985, Dobbs performed in operas produced and directed by the acclaimed
opera singer Blanche Thebom, and in 1974 she sang at the gala marking the
inauguration of her nephew Maynard Jackson as mayor of Atlanta.
In 1974, after retiring from the stage, Dobbs began a teaching career at the
University of Texas, where she was the first African American artist on the
faculty. She spent the 1974-75 school year as artist-in-residence at Spelman
College, giving recitals and teaching master classes. In 1979 Spelman
awarded honorary doctorates to both Dobbs and Marian Anderson.
Dobbs continued her teaching career as professor of voice at Howard
University, in Washington, D.C. She served on the board of the Metropolitan
Opera and on the National Endowment of the Arts Solo Recital Panel. Dobbs
continued to give recitals until as late as 1990 before retiring to
Arlington, Virginia, where she currently resides.

[ljo]

Post by REG
Actually, ljo started another thread on her in March of last year. I
suppose there's no harm in asking twice. I've seen others do it. >

If rmo wasn't repetitious we'd have to close our doors. Anyway, it can be
interesting to see if people have changed their opinions over time. Yours
seems a little different.

Post by REG
I wonder if she ever sang any Mahler. > I thought her Constanze very
graceful on the Menuhin recording (now available again on Chandos), but
it's obviously a very small and somewhat colorless instrument, and her
commercial Pearl Fishers and Hoffman are rather plain.

2006 REG:
I think she is one of the best Constanzes on record, and I will tell you
why.....it is a lovely small sized but penetrating voice, and she sings
Constanze without trying to push it into being bigger than it is, and yet
she capitalizes on her virtues and strengths by making it a character who
is more traditionally feminine than most. She's extraordinarily good in the
fioritura of the work, particularly in Ach, ich liebte, Constanze's first
aria, which is far far more difficult than Marten Alle Arten (? fucking
spelling), and the flexibility it also done with a sense of being grazioso,
and not like a bull in a china shop. >

There's a sampler here. Could there be a 2007 REG, Part 2 in our future?

http://www.amazon.com/Mattiwilda-Dobbs-sings-Arias-Songs/dp/samples/B00000IAES#disc_1

Post by REG

Post by Daniel Kessler
I recall her Gilda at the "old" Met...it wasn't anything terribly special...

Post by ljo
Why doesn't anybody ever talk about the wonderful Mattiwilda Dobbs? Listen
to her sing the two Schubert songs here and then come back and read the rest
http://www.charm.kcl.ac.uk/content/schubert_songs/index.html
Mattiwilda Dobbs's exceptional vocal gifts and musical skill enabled her to
cross color barriers to become an internationally known opera star. The
Atlanta native was the first African American to sing at La Scala in Milan,
Italy, and the first black woman to be offered a long-term contract by the
Metropolitan Opera Company in New York.
Named for her maternal grandmother, Mattie Wilda Sykes, Mattiwilda Dobbs was
born on July 11, 1925. She was the fifth of six daughters born to Irene and
John Wesley Dobbs, who were leaders in the African American community of
Atlanta's Auburn Avenue area. Like her sisters, she began piano lessons at
the age of seven, sang in community and church choirs, and attended Spelman
College, where she began to study voice. Naturally shy, she was so nervous
at her first solo appearances that she had to lean on the piano for support,
but her unusual talent and quality of voice persuaded her father to fund
further studies in New York. She studied with Lotte Leonard and won a Marian
Anderson Award, among other scholarships, and a John Hay Whitney Fellowship,
which enabled her to study in Europe.
Dobbs's coloratura soprano was praised for its freshness and agility, as
well as for the beauty of its tone. After winning the International Music
Competition in Geneva, in Switzerland, in 1951, she sang in major festivals
and opera houses throughout Europe, including La Scala in 1953. Her American
debut was in 1954 at a recital in New York. She sang the role of Gilda in
Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto for her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in
1956. Although Marian Anderson, a black opera singer from Pennsylvania, had
preceded her to that stage in 1955, Dobbs was the first African American
woman to be offered a long-term contract by the Met; she sang twenty-nine
performances, in six roles, over eight seasons.
Although she remained close to her family and performed in Atlanta several
times, personal as well as professional considerations prevented Dobbs from
making the city her home. She lived in Spain with her first husband, Luis
Rodriguez, who died of a liver ailment in June 1954, fourteen months after
their wedding. She then married Bengt Janzon, a Swedish newspaperman, just
before Christmas 1957. Her family attended the wedding, but because of the
stir an interracial marriage would have caused in the segregated South, the
ceremony was held in New York, and the new couple made their home in Sweden.
Bengt Janzon did not visit Atlanta until 1967.
Following the example set by African American performer and activist Paul
Robeson, Dobbs refused to perform for segregated audiences. In Atlanta she
could have performed in African American churches or colleges, but she was
not able to perform for a large integrated audience until the Atlanta City
Auditorium was desegregated in 1962, when she was joined onstage and given a
key to the city by Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. It was the first of many
performances in her home city. Before the organization of the Atlanta Opera
in 1985, Dobbs performed in operas produced and directed by the acclaimed
opera singer Blanche Thebom, and in 1974 she sang at the gala marking the
inauguration of her nephew Maynard Jackson as mayor of Atlanta.
In 1974, after retiring from the stage, Dobbs began a teaching career at the
University of Texas, where she was the first African American artist on the
faculty. She spent the 1974-75 school year as artist-in-residence at Spelman
College, giving recitals and teaching master classes. In 1979 Spelman
awarded honorary doctorates to both Dobbs and Marian Anderson.
Dobbs continued her teaching career as professor of voice at Howard
University, in Washington, D.C. She served on the board of the Metropolitan
Opera and on the National Endowment of the Arts Solo Recital Panel. Dobbs
continued to give recitals until as late as 1990 before retiring to
Arlington, Virginia, where she currently resides.

[Jeffrey]

Post by ljo

Post by REG
Actually, ljo started another thread on her in March of last year. I
suppose there's no harm in asking twice. I've seen others do it. >

If rmo wasn't repetitious we'd have to close our doors. Anyway, it can be
interesting to see if people have changed their opinions over time. Yours
seems a little different.

Post by REG
I wonder if she ever sang any Mahler. > I thought her Constanze very
graceful on the Menuhin recording (now available again on Chandos), but
it's obviously a very small and somewhat colorless instrument, and her
commercial Pearl Fishers and Hoffman are rather plain.

I think she is one of the best Constanzes on record, and I will tell you
why.....it is a lovely small sized but penetrating voice, and she sings
Constanze without trying to push it into being bigger than it is, and yet
she capitalizes on her virtues and strengths by making it a character who
is more traditionally feminine than most. She's extraordinarily good in the
fioritura of the work, particularly in Ach, ich liebte, Constanze's first
aria, which is far far more difficult than Marten Alle Arten (? fucking
spelling), and the flexibility it also done with a sense of being grazioso,
and not like a bull in a china shop. >
There's a sampler here. Could there be a 2007 REG, Part 2 in our future?
http://www.amazon.com/Mattiwilda-Dobbs-sings-Arias-Songs/dp/samples/B00000IAES#disc_1

You're surprised? This, from the same REG who couldn't get his head
around my 'Greatness'
thread.

[REG]

Actually, ljo, it's you who forgot about your earlier post, and not I. I
went back to look, and was quite aware of what I'd written earlier - my post
today was written in the light of my earlier post, and doesn't contradict it
at all. The lapse in memory is all yours - when you asked why no one talks
about Dobbs, you forgot that you'd asked about her a year and a half ago,
and gotten some answers.

The real regret though isn't our predictable bantering back and forth, but
that except for you and me, no one has taken advantage of the opportunity to
listen to her again and give an opinion. Dan K and Charlie heard her live,
which is a help, but there are lots of other people on this board, and
there's no interest even when the resources are available.

Post by ljo

Post by REG
Actually, ljo started another thread on her in March of last year. I
suppose there's no harm in asking twice. I've seen others do it. >

If rmo wasn't repetitious we'd have to close our doors. Anyway, it can be
interesting to see if people have changed their opinions over time. Yours
seems a little different.

Post by REG
I wonder if she ever sang any Mahler. > I thought her Constanze very
graceful on the Menuhin recording (now available again on Chandos), but
it's obviously a very small and somewhat colorless instrument, and her
commercial Pearl Fishers and Hoffman are rather plain.

I think she is one of the best Constanzes on record, and I will tell you
why.....it is a lovely small sized but penetrating voice, and she sings
Constanze without trying to push it into being bigger than it is, and yet
she capitalizes on her virtues and strengths by making it a character who
is more traditionally feminine than most. She's extraordinarily good in the
fioritura of the work, particularly in Ach, ich liebte, Constanze's first
aria, which is far far more difficult than Marten Alle Arten (? fucking
spelling), and the flexibility it also done with a sense of being grazioso,
and not like a bull in a china shop. >
There's a sampler here. Could there be a 2007 REG, Part 2 in our future?
http://www.amazon.com/Mattiwilda-Dobbs-sings-Arias-Songs/dp/samples/B00000IAES#disc_1

Post by REG

Post by Daniel Kessler
I recall her Gilda at the "old" Met...it wasn't anything terribly special...

Post by ljo
Why doesn't anybody ever talk about the wonderful Mattiwilda Dobbs? Listen
to her sing the two Schubert songs here and then come back and read the rest
http://www.charm.kcl.ac.uk/content/schubert_songs/index.html
Mattiwilda Dobbs's exceptional vocal gifts and musical skill enabled her to
cross color barriers to become an internationally known opera star. The
Atlanta native was the first African American to sing at La Scala in Milan,
Italy, and the first black woman to be offered a long-term contract by the
Metropolitan Opera Company in New York.
Named for her maternal grandmother, Mattie Wilda Sykes, Mattiwilda Dobbs was
born on July 11, 1925. She was the fifth of six daughters born to Irene and
John Wesley Dobbs, who were leaders in the African American community of
Atlanta's Auburn Avenue area. Like her sisters, she began piano lessons at
the age of seven, sang in community and church choirs, and attended Spelman
College, where she began to study voice. Naturally shy, she was so nervous
at her first solo appearances that she had to lean on the piano for support,
but her unusual talent and quality of voice persuaded her father to fund
further studies in New York. She studied with Lotte Leonard and won a Marian
Anderson Award, among other scholarships, and a John Hay Whitney Fellowship,
which enabled her to study in Europe.
Dobbs's coloratura soprano was praised for its freshness and agility, as
well as for the beauty of its tone. After winning the International Music
Competition in Geneva, in Switzerland, in 1951, she sang in major festivals
and opera houses throughout Europe, including La Scala in 1953. Her American
debut was in 1954 at a recital in New York. She sang the role of Gilda in
Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto for her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in
1956. Although Marian Anderson, a black opera singer from Pennsylvania, had
preceded her to that stage in 1955, Dobbs was the first African American
woman to be offered a long-term contract by the Met; she sang twenty-nine
performances, in six roles, over eight seasons.
Although she remained close to her family and performed in Atlanta several
times, personal as well as professional considerations prevented Dobbs from
making the city her home. She lived in Spain with her first husband, Luis
Rodriguez, who died of a liver ailment in June 1954, fourteen months after
their wedding. She then married Bengt Janzon, a Swedish newspaperman, just
before Christmas 1957. Her family attended the wedding, but because of the
stir an interracial marriage would have caused in the segregated South, the
ceremony was held in New York, and the new couple made their home in Sweden.
Bengt Janzon did not visit Atlanta until 1967.
Following the example set by African American performer and activist Paul
Robeson, Dobbs refused to perform for segregated audiences. In Atlanta she
could have performed in African American churches or colleges, but she was
not able to perform for a large integrated audience until the Atlanta City
Auditorium was desegregated in 1962, when she was joined onstage and given a
key to the city by Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. It was the first of many
performances in her home city. Before the organization of the Atlanta Opera
in 1985, Dobbs performed in operas produced and directed by the acclaimed
opera singer Blanche Thebom, and in 1974 she sang at the gala marking the
inauguration of her nephew Maynard Jackson as mayor of Atlanta.
In 1974, after retiring from the stage, Dobbs began a teaching career at the
University of Texas, where she was the first African American artist on the
faculty. She spent the 1974-75 school year as artist-in-residence at Spelman
College, giving recitals and teaching master classes. In 1979 Spelman
awarded honorary doctorates to both Dobbs and Marian Anderson.
Dobbs continued her teaching career as professor of voice at Howard
University, in Washington, D.C. She served on the board of the Metropolitan
Opera and on the National Endowment of the Arts Solo Recital Panel. Dobbs
continued to give recitals until as late as 1990 before retiring to
Arlington, Virginia, where she currently resides.

[ljo]

I certainly was aware of writing of her previously although I didn't make a
point of looking it up. And if you had looked further back in time you would
have found others. I'll tell you why I remembered. Whenever I see her name
it makes me think of the title of a short story I read many years ago by
somebody like James Thurber or Russell Baker or S. J. Perelman or Art
Buchwald or somebody like that. The title was (is) something like "Why
Doesn't Anybody Ever Write About Millard Fillmore?" and it was a gift from
the late Mrs Little Jimmy who thought the title would break me up - which it
did. So that title became a catch phrase between Mrs Little Jimmy and me
beginning with the first time we saw Ms. Dobbs at the Met. Neither of us had
heard of her and MLJ whispered to me "Why doesn't anybody ever write about
Mattiwilda Dobbs?", and I began braying like a jackass and was made to go
and stand in the corner of the lobby until intermission. I have always felt
bad about my rude, albeit unintentional, behavior and have always tried to
make amends to Ms Dobbs ever since - whenever I think of her.
[I shan't bicker with you over the difference between your two
characterizations of M.D.other than to say I agreed with the first one more
closely than the second one.]

Post by REG
Actually, ljo, it's you who forgot about your earlier post, and not I. I
went back to look, and was quite aware of what I'd written earlier - my
post today was written in the light of my earlier post, and doesn't
contradict it at all. The lapse in memory is all yours - when you asked
why no one talks about Dobbs, you forgot that you'd asked about her a year
and a half ago, and gotten some answers.
The real regret though isn't our predictable bantering back and forth, but
that except for you and me, no one has taken advantage of the opportunity
to listen to her again and give an opinion. Dan K and Charlie heard her
live, which is a help, but there are lots of other people on this board,
and there's no interest even when the resources are available.

Post by ljo

Post by REG
Actually, ljo started another thread on her in March of last year. I
suppose there's no harm in asking twice. I've seen others do it. >

If rmo wasn't repetitious we'd have to close our doors. Anyway, it can be
interesting to see if people have changed their opinions over time. Yours
seems a little different.

Post by REG
I wonder if she ever sang any Mahler. > I thought her Constanze very
graceful on the Menuhin recording (now available again on Chandos), but
it's obviously a very small and somewhat colorless instrument, and her
commercial Pearl Fishers and Hoffman are rather plain.

I think she is one of the best Constanzes on record, and I will tell you
why.....it is a lovely small sized but penetrating voice, and she sings
Constanze without trying to push it into being bigger than it is, and
yet
she capitalizes on her virtues and strengths by making it a character who
is more traditionally feminine than most. She's extraordinarily good in the
fioritura of the work, particularly in Ach, ich liebte, Constanze's first
aria, which is far far more difficult than Marten Alle Arten (? fucking
spelling), and the flexibility it also done with a sense of being grazioso,
and not like a bull in a china shop. >
There's a sampler here. Could there be a 2007 REG, Part 2 in our future?
http://www.amazon.com/Mattiwilda-Dobbs-sings-Arias-Songs/dp/samples/B00000IAES#disc_1

Post by REG

Post by Daniel Kessler
I recall her Gilda at the "old" Met...it wasn't anything terribly special...

Post by ljo
Why doesn't anybody ever talk about the wonderful Mattiwilda Dobbs? Listen
to her sing the two Schubert songs here and then come back and read the rest
http://www.charm.kcl.ac.uk/content/schubert_songs/index.html
Mattiwilda Dobbs's exceptional vocal gifts and musical skill enabled her to
cross color barriers to become an internationally known opera star. The
Atlanta native was the first African American to sing at La Scala in Milan,
Italy, and the first black woman to be offered a long-term contract by the
Metropolitan Opera Company in New York.
Named for her maternal grandmother, Mattie Wilda Sykes, Mattiwilda Dobbs was
born on July 11, 1925. She was the fifth of six daughters born to Irene and
John Wesley Dobbs, who were leaders in the African American community of
Atlanta's Auburn Avenue area. Like her sisters, she began piano lessons at
the age of seven, sang in community and church choirs, and attended Spelman
College, where she began to study voice. Naturally shy, she was so nervous
at her first solo appearances that she had to lean on the piano for support,
but her unusual talent and quality of voice persuaded her father to fund
further studies in New York. She studied with Lotte Leonard and won a Marian
Anderson Award, among other scholarships, and a John Hay Whitney Fellowship,
which enabled her to study in Europe.
Dobbs's coloratura soprano was praised for its freshness and agility, as
well as for the beauty of its tone. After winning the International Music
Competition in Geneva, in Switzerland, in 1951, she sang in major festivals
and opera houses throughout Europe, including La Scala in 1953. Her American
debut was in 1954 at a recital in New York. She sang the role of Gilda in
Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto for her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in
1956. Although Marian Anderson, a black opera singer from
Pennsylvania, had
preceded her to that stage in 1955, Dobbs was the first African American
woman to be offered a long-term contract by the Met; she sang twenty-nine
performances, in six roles, over eight seasons.
Although she remained close to her family and performed in Atlanta several
times, personal as well as professional considerations prevented Dobbs from
making the city her home. She lived in Spain with her first husband, Luis
Rodriguez, who died of a liver ailment in June 1954, fourteen months after
their wedding. She then married Bengt Janzon, a Swedish newspaperman, just
before Christmas 1957. Her family attended the wedding, but because of the
stir an interracial marriage would have caused in the segregated South, the
ceremony was held in New York, and the new couple made their home in Sweden.
Bengt Janzon did not visit Atlanta until 1967.
Following the example set by African American performer and activist Paul
Robeson, Dobbs refused to perform for segregated audiences. In Atlanta she
could have performed in African American churches or colleges, but she was
not able to perform for a large integrated audience until the Atlanta City
Auditorium was desegregated in 1962, when she was joined onstage and given a
key to the city by Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. It was the first of many
performances in her home city. Before the organization of the Atlanta Opera
in 1985, Dobbs performed in operas produced and directed by the acclaimed
opera singer Blanche Thebom, and in 1974 she sang at the gala marking the
inauguration of her nephew Maynard Jackson as mayor of Atlanta.
In 1974, after retiring from the stage, Dobbs began a teaching career at the
University of Texas, where she was the first African American artist on the
faculty. She spent the 1974-75 school year as artist-in-residence at Spelman
College, giving recitals and teaching master classes. In 1979 Spelman
awarded honorary doctorates to both Dobbs and Marian Anderson.
Dobbs continued her teaching career as professor of voice at Howard
University, in Washington, D.C. She served on the board of the Metropolitan
Opera and on the National Endowment of the Arts Solo Recital Panel. Dobbs
continued to give recitals until as late as 1990 before retiring to
Arlington, Virginia, where she currently resides.

[wkasimer]

(My original response seems to have gotten lost in the cyberether.
Apologies if this turns out to be a duplicate posting.)

Post by REG
The real regret though isn't our predictable bantering back and forth, but
that except for you and me, no one has taken advantage of the opportunity to
listen to her again and give an opinion. Dan K and Charlie heard her live,
which is a help, but there are lots of other people on this board, and
there's no interest even when the resources are available.

My apologies. I work for a living, and have other responsibilities
which sometimes prevent my timely (much less instantaneous)
participation in this group. I also wanted to go through my
collection and find more than the three songs that LJO linked.
Unfortunately, I find that I no longer have either the Abduction or
the recital CD on Testament (or I have them, and can't find them
because I'm lazy about filing CD's, so I'll have to keep looking).

I don't think that one can argue about the voice itself. It is small
and pretty colorless, particularly above the staff. She reminds me of
Elisabeth Schumann, another singer who got by largely via charm,
although I think that Schumann had a more individual, recognizable
sound. Dobbs, though, probably had the stronger technique and
musicianship; I can't imagine Schumann singing Nacht und Traeume as
securely (particularly with respect to pitch) as Dobbs does.

Post by REG
Dan K and Charlie heard her live, which is a help

What did you find helpful about Dan's and Charlie's contributions?
Dan's "Nothing special" really doesn't say very much, and Charlie's "I
saw her Gilda" says nothing at all.

Bill

[wkasimer]

Post by REG
The real regret though isn't our predictable bantering back and forth, but
that except for you and me, no one has taken advantage of the opportunity to
listen to her again and give an opinion. Dan K and Charlie heard her live,
which is a help, but there are lots of other people on this board, and
there's no interest even when the resources are available.

My apologies. I work for a living, and have other responsibilities
which sometimes prevent my timely (much less instantaneous)
participation in this group. I also wanted to go through my
collection and find more than the three songs that LJO linked.
Unfortunately, I find that I no longer have either the Abduction or
the recital CD on Testament (or I have them, and can't find them
because I'm lazy about filing CD's, so I'll have to keep looking).

I don't think that one can argue about the voice itself. It is small
and pretty colorless, particularly above the staff. She reminds me of
Elisabeth Schumann, another singer who got by largely via charm,
although I think that Schumann had a more individual, recognizable
sound. Dobbs, though, probably had the stronger technique and
musicianship; I can't imagine Schumann singing Nacht und Traeume as
securely (particularly with respect to pitch) as Dobbs does.

Post by REG
Dan K and Charlie heard her live, which is a help

What did you find helpful about Dan's and Charlie's contributions?
Dan's "Nothing special" really doesn't say very much, and Charlie's "I
saw her Gilda" says nothing at all.

Bill

[REG]

I don't get you. On another thread, I posted about Gosta W, specifically
with you in mind - you're the only I recall who'd expressed consistent
interest in him. I didn't have to do it, obviously, and there's no love lost
between us, but I thought it was a decent thing to do and wouldn't get any
gratification in withholding the information. You then come back and react
personally and with sarcasm to me in response to my post, which wasn't
aimed at you specifically at all - though a number of us work, have families
and other obligations. As someone once said on Opera L, perhaps one needs to
develope a thicker skin to survive on the internet. You're a very sour and
kind of snotty guy generally, I think, and all the criticism you want to
address to others, including me, doesn't deflect that - it's my major
problem with you, but it's obviously not going to change.

As to Schumann, I would agree - I think she's similar to Bidu Sayao in what
she brought to the table, although the voice types were obviously somewhat
different. Schumann was of course much better respected, and I believe
Strauss wanted her for a lightly scored version of Salome. Her charms, other
than charm, tend to escape me, although there is a freshness to the voice
until very late. In that respect, I am not sure that Dobbs had a better
technique, although she certainly had more ease on high for longer and a
better grasp of coloratura. Charlie and Dan Kessler's comments were helpful
in that she wasn't more memorable than one would think from reconstructing
the voice from the records - her life probably makes better reading than her
singing made listening in live performance.

The "other" black singer whose career went even more by the wayside, of
course, is Dorothy Maynor - her voice was in its way as unique as Miss
Anderson's, but I would bet that you couldn't put together two full cds of
her extant stuff, including everything live, if one's life depended on it.
It was an amazingly silvery, beautfully focused sound, and apparently quite
able to penetrate and carry - her recording of Depuis le jour remains for
many people hors concors despite ocassional wayward moments. It wasn't that
she could have been a contender - she clearly was more than a contender, but
limited by matters of her race. Her intense self-respect and dignity and
love of others, epitomized but not limited to her role in the Harlem School
of the Arts, is probably a greater legacy than most other artists get to
leave in a lifetime, but we're still poorer by far because she didn't have
the opportunities she could have had in another society. There's a book to
be written somewhere about black classical singers of a lost generation or
two - almost without exception, they were people of remakable humanity and
restraint, but I don't think anyone's tried that kind of book, and there's
probably not a lot of money in it.



As to S

Post by wkasimer

Post by REG
The real regret though isn't our predictable bantering back and forth, but
that except for you and me, no one has taken advantage of the opportunity to
listen to her again and give an opinion. Dan K and Charlie heard her live,
which is a help, but there are lots of other people on this board, and
there's no interest even when the resources are available.

My apologies. I work for a living, and have other responsibilities
which sometimes prevent my timely (much less instantaneous)
participation in this group. I also wanted to go through my
collection and find more than the three songs that LJO linked.
Unfortunately, I find that I no longer have either the Abduction or
the recital CD on Testament (or I have them, and can't find them
because I'm lazy about filing CD's, so I'll have to keep looking).
I don't think that one can argue about the voice itself. It is small
and pretty colorless, particularly above the staff. She reminds me of
Elisabeth Schumann, another singer who got by largely via charm,
although I think that Schumann had a more individual, recognizable
sound. Dobbs, though, probably had the stronger technique and
musicianship; I can't imagine Schumann singing Nacht und Traeume as
securely (particularly with respect to pitch) as Dobbs does.

Post by REG
Dan K and Charlie heard her live, which is a help

What did you find helpful about Dan's and Charlie's contributions?
Dan's "Nothing special" really doesn't say very much, and Charlie's "I
saw her Gilda" says nothing at all.
Bill

[wkasimer]

Post by REG
I don't get you. On another thread, I posted about Gosta W, specifically
with you in mind - you're the only I recall who'd expressed consistent
interest in him. I didn't have to do it, obviously, and there's no love lost
between us, but I thought it was a decent thing to do and wouldn't get any
gratification in withholding the information.

Did I neglect to thank you publicly for that bit of information?

Post by REG
You then come back and react
personally and with sarcasm to me in response to my post, which wasn't
aimed at you specifically at all - though a number of us work, have families
and other obligations. As someone once said on Opera L, perhaps one needs to
develope a thicker skin to survive on the internet.

REG, if you took my rather off-hand comment personally, then I'm not
the one who needs a thicker skin. The point I was making is that RMO
isn't a chat room. If I post something, I certainly don't expect
everyone to respond within a 24 hour time frame, particularly when the
topic is a fairly obscure singer.

And when you make generalizations about the entire membership of RMO,
I assume that you are including me in that group. If you are looking
to tweak specific people, go right ahead - you've certainly not been
shy about tweaking me by name whenever the opportunity arises. For
that matter, perhaps you might benefit from spending less bandwidth
providing unneeded commentary about the goings-on on RMO; we're all
capable of reading the postings and coming to our own conclusions.

Post by REG
As to Schumann, I would agree - I think she's similar to Bidu Sayao in what
she brought to the table, although the voice types were obviously somewhat
different. Schumann was of course much better respected,

She was better known, but I'm not sure that she was "better respected"
than Schumann. It's hard for me to compare their singing, because I
rarely listen to either of them.

Post by REG
There's a book to
be written somewhere about black classical singers of a lost generation or
two - almost without exception, they were people of remakable humanity and
restraint, but I don't think anyone's tried that kind of book, and there's
probably not a lot of money in it.

You're probably right there, but I don't think that there's every much
money to be made in books about singers. They tend to show up on
remainder lists rather quickly.

Thanks for the reminder about Maynor; I haven't heard her in ages, but
I'll try to listen to her in the next few days, when time permits.

Bill

[David Foulger]

She sang the Zerbinetta in "Ariadne auf Naxos" at Glyndebourne in the
1950's, and also the Queen of Shemakha, in Rimsky Korsakov's "Coq d'Or" at
Covent Garden, I remember a rather gorgeous production. She also sang the
Zerbinetta Aria at a PROM in the 1950's. quite wonderful if my memeory
serves me right.

Post by Daniel Kessler
I recall her Gilda at the "old" Met...it wasn't anything terribly special...

Post by ljo
Why doesn't anybody ever talk about the wonderful Mattiwilda Dobbs? Listen
to her sing the two Schubert songs here and then come back and read the rest
http://www.charm.kcl.ac.uk/content/schubert_songs/index.html
Mattiwilda Dobbs's exceptional vocal gifts and musical skill enabled her to
cross color barriers to become an internationally known opera star. The
Atlanta native was the first African American to sing at La Scala in Milan,
Italy, and the first black woman to be offered a long-term contract by the
Metropolitan Opera Company in New York.
Named for her maternal grandmother, Mattie Wilda Sykes, Mattiwilda Dobbs was
born on July 11, 1925. She was the fifth of six daughters born to Irene and
John Wesley Dobbs, who were leaders in the African American community of
Atlanta's Auburn Avenue area. Like her sisters, she began piano lessons at
the age of seven, sang in community and church choirs, and attended Spelman
College, where she began to study voice. Naturally shy, she was so nervous
at her first solo appearances that she had to lean on the piano for support,
but her unusual talent and quality of voice persuaded her father to fund
further studies in New York. She studied with Lotte Leonard and won a Marian
Anderson Award, among other scholarships, and a John Hay Whitney Fellowship,
which enabled her to study in Europe.
Dobbs's coloratura soprano was praised for its freshness and agility, as
well as for the beauty of its tone. After winning the International Music
Competition in Geneva, in Switzerland, in 1951, she sang in major festivals
and opera houses throughout Europe, including La Scala in 1953. Her American
debut was in 1954 at a recital in New York. She sang the role of Gilda in
Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto for her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in
1956. Although Marian Anderson, a black opera singer from Pennsylvania, had
preceded her to that stage in 1955, Dobbs was the first African American
woman to be offered a long-term contract by the Met; she sang twenty-nine
performances, in six roles, over eight seasons.
Although she remained close to her family and performed in Atlanta several
times, personal as well as professional considerations prevented Dobbs from
making the city her home. She lived in Spain with her first husband, Luis
Rodriguez, who died of a liver ailment in June 1954, fourteen months after
their wedding. She then married Bengt Janzon, a Swedish newspaperman, just
before Christmas 1957. Her family attended the wedding, but because of the
stir an interracial marriage would have caused in the segregated South, the
ceremony was held in New York, and the new couple made their home in Sweden.
Bengt Janzon did not visit Atlanta until 1967.
Following the example set by African American performer and activist Paul
Robeson, Dobbs refused to perform for segregated audiences. In Atlanta she
could have performed in African American churches or colleges, but she was
not able to perform for a large integrated audience until the Atlanta City
Auditorium was desegregated in 1962, when she was joined onstage and given a
key to the city by Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. It was the first of many
performances in her home city. Before the organization of the Atlanta Opera
in 1985, Dobbs performed in operas produced and directed by the acclaimed
opera singer Blanche Thebom, and in 1974 she sang at the gala marking the
inauguration of her nephew Maynard Jackson as mayor of Atlanta.
In 1974, after retiring from the stage, Dobbs began a teaching career at the
University of Texas, where she was the first African American artist on the
faculty. She spent the 1974-75 school year as artist-in-residence at Spelman
College, giving recitals and teaching master classes. In 1979 Spelman
awarded honorary doctorates to both Dobbs and Marian Anderson.
Dobbs continued her teaching career as professor of voice at Howard
University, in Washington, D.C. She served on the board of the Metropolitan
Opera and on the National Endowment of the Arts Solo Recital Panel. Dobbs
continued to give recitals until as late as 1990 before retiring to
Arlington, Virginia, where she currently resides.

[gggg gggg]

Post by David Foulger
She sang the Zerbinetta in "Ariadne auf Naxos" at Glyndebourne in the
1950's, and also the Queen of Shemakha, in Rimsky Korsakov's "Coq d'Or" at
Covent Garden, I remember a rather gorgeous production...

(2022 Youtube upload):

"Mattiwilda Dobbs Geraint Evans John Lanigan The Golden Cockerel [Le Coq d'Or] (1954, in English)"

[g***@gmail.com]

Post by ljo
Why doesn't anybody ever talk about the wonderful Mattiwilda Dobbs? Listen
to her sing the two Schubert songs here and then come back and read the rest
http://www.charm.kcl.ac.uk/content/schubert_songs/index.html
Mattiwilda Dobbs's exceptional vocal gifts and musical skill enabled her to
cross color barriers to become an internationally known opera star. The
Atlanta native was the first African American to sing at La Scala in Milan,
Italy, and the first black woman to be offered a long-term contract by the
Metropolitan Opera Company in New York.
Named for her maternal grandmother, Mattie Wilda Sykes, Mattiwilda Dobbs was
born on July 11, 1925. She was the fifth of six daughters born to Irene and
John Wesley Dobbs, who were leaders in the African American community of
Atlanta's Auburn Avenue area. Like her sisters, she began piano lessons at
the age of seven, sang in community and church choirs, and attended Spelman
College, where she began to study voice. Naturally shy, she was so nervous
at her first solo appearances that she had to lean on the piano for support,
but her unusual talent and quality of voice persuaded her father to fund
further studies in New York. She studied with Lotte Leonard and won a Marian
Anderson Award, among other scholarships, and a John Hay Whitney Fellowship,
which enabled her to study in Europe.
Dobbs's coloratura soprano was praised for its freshness and agility, as
well as for the beauty of its tone. After winning the International Music
Competition in Geneva, in Switzerland, in 1951, she sang in major festivals
and opera houses throughout Europe, including La Scala in 1953. Her American
debut was in 1954 at a recital in New York. She sang the role of Gilda in
Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto for her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in
1956. Although Marian Anderson, a black opera singer from Pennsylvania, had
preceded her to that stage in 1955, Dobbs was the first African American
woman to be offered a long-term contract by the Met; she sang twenty-nine
performances, in six roles, over eight seasons.
Although she remained close to her family and performed in Atlanta several
times, personal as well as professional considerations prevented Dobbs from
making the city her home. She lived in Spain with her first husband, Luis
Rodriguez, who died of a liver ailment in June 1954, fourteen months after
their wedding. She then married Bengt Janzon, a Swedish newspaperman, just
before Christmas 1957. Her family attended the wedding, but because of the
stir an interracial marriage would have caused in the segregated South, the
ceremony was held in New York, and the new couple made their home in Sweden.
Bengt Janzon did not visit Atlanta until 1967.
Following the example set by African American performer and activist Paul
Robeson, Dobbs refused to perform for segregated audiences. In Atlanta she
could have performed in African American churches or colleges, but she was
not able to perform for a large integrated audience until the Atlanta City
Auditorium was desegregated in 1962, when she was joined onstage and given a
key to the city by Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. It was the first of many
performances in her home city. Before the organization of the Atlanta Opera
in 1985, Dobbs performed in operas produced and directed by the acclaimed
opera singer Blanche Thebom, and in 1974 she sang at the gala marking the
inauguration of her nephew Maynard Jackson as mayor of Atlanta.
In 1974, after retiring from the stage, Dobbs began a teaching career at the
University of Texas, where she was the first African American artist on the
faculty. She spent the 1974-75 school year as artist-in-residence at Spelman
College, giving recitals and teaching master classes. In 1979 Spelman
awarded honorary doctorates to both Dobbs and Marian Anderson.
Dobbs continued her teaching career as professor of voice at Howard
University, in Washington, D.C. She served on the board of the Metropolitan
Opera and on the National Endowment of the Arts Solo Recital Panel. Dobbs
continued to give recitals until as late as 1990 before retiring to
Arlington, Virginia, where she currently resides.

The following on Dobbs may be of interest:

http://www.norpete.com/v2052.html