Martina Arroyo

Martina Arroyo

Born: February 2, 1936
in New York, New York, USA
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.

Movies for Martina Arroyo...

A Bread Factory: Part One
Title: A Bread Factory: Part One
Character: Sandra
Released: October 26, 2018
Type: Movie
After 40 years of running their community arts space The Bread Factory, Dorothea and Greta are suddenly fighting for survival when a pair of celebrity performance artists from China come to Checkford and build an enormous complex down the street, catapulting big changes in their small town.
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A Bread Factory: Part Two
Title: A Bread Factory: Part Two
Character: Sandra
Released: October 26, 2018
Type: Movie
The Bread Factory is the scene for rehearsals of the Greek play Hecuba. But the real theatrics are outside the theater, with the town invaded by bizarre tourists and mysterious tech start-up workers. There is a new normal in Checkford, if it is even really Checkford any longer.
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Title: Le Grand Échiquier
Character: Self
Released: January 12, 1972
Type: TV
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Title: Great Performances
Character: Self
Released: January 28, 1971
Type: TV
The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.
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Title: The Odd Couple
Character: Martina Arroyo
Released: September 24, 1970
Type: TV
Felix and Oscar are two divorced men. Felix is neat and tidy while Oscar is sloppy and casual. They share a Manhattan apartment, and their different lifestyles inevitably lead to conflicts.
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The Great Rehearsals: Momente
Title: The Great Rehearsals: Momente
Character: Herself
Released: May 25, 1966
Type: Movie
Filmed during rehearsals for the premiere of Stockhausen's monumental work Momente. The revealing rehearsal sequences are interspersed with Stockhausen speaking of his youth, work process and the genesis and meaning of Momente.
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Title: The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Character: Self
Released: October 1, 1962
Type: TV
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.