Martina Arroyo Dies at 90, Leaving 199 Met Performances and a Barrier-Breaking Opera Legacy
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 7
Martina Arroyo Dies at 90, Leaving 199 Met Performances and a Barrier-Breaking Opera Legacy
1 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 7
Summary
Martina Arroyo died Oct. 13 at her Manhattan home at 90, the Metropolitan Opera said, closing the life of a Harlem-born soprano who became one of opera’s leading Black stars.
Her defining breakthrough came in 1965, when she stepped into the Met’s “Aida” with four days’ notice, won a standing ovation and began a two-decade run at the company.
Across the 1960s and 1970s, Arroyo built an international career at houses including La Scala, Covent Garden and the Vienna State Opera, earning particular acclaim as a Verdi soprano.
Arroyo emerged only a decade after Marian Anderson became the first Black singer to perform at the Met in 1955, helping widen access to an art form long dominated by white performers.
After retiring from the stage, she taught at Louisiana State and Indiana universities and later founded the Martina Arroyo Foundation, which helped launch hundreds of young opera careers.