While Adele Addison is known more for her concert and recital appearances and is particularly praised for her performance of Baroque repertoire, she also performed extensively for the New York City Opera, debuting as Mimi in La Bohéme, and ranging from Carmen to Falstaff. She made her preference clear, however, in an Opera News article: “Today, young singers are almost forced to make a choice, because they are counseled that becoming established in opera is the way to make a career in music. I never had to make a choice. I loved the song repertoire from the start, and as I began to sing, for even the smallest ladies’ clubs, etc.—the first love remained—My curiosity, joy and love for song never changed. It still has not.” She has performed on concert stages around the world, and has taught for more than thirty-five years at institutions including State University of New York, Stoney Brook, Eastman School of Music, and the Aspen Music Festival. Her students have included performers such as Dawn Upshaw.

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For further information on this artist:

· Adele Addison, Springfield’s Soprano. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbN3RLeTS5A. Accessed August 28, 2024. · Hine, Darlene Clark; McGinty, Doris Evans; Terborg-Penn, Rosalyn; Barkley Brown, Elsa (1993). Black women in America: an historical encyclopedia. Brooklyn: Carlson Pub. p. 11. ISBN 0926019619. Accessed April 11, 2024.

· Otis Alexander: “Adele Addison Berger, 1925- .” July 21, 2021. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/people-african-american-history/adele-addison-berger-1925/. Accessed April 11, 2024.

· Journal of the African American Registry: “Adele Addison, Opera Vocalist Born.” https://aaregistry.org/story/adelle-addison-one-of-operas-best/ Accessed August 28, 2024.

· Rosalyn M. Story: And So I Sing: African-American Divas of Opera and Concert. New York: Amistad Press, 1990, pp. 137-139.

 

Recordings:

· Bach: St. John’s Passion, “Ich folge dir gleichfalls” (I Follow in Gladness); “Zerfliesse, mein Herze” (O Heart melt in Weeping). Both in English. Accessed August 28, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrBEMKTLhDE.

· Handel: Messiah, “Rejoice Greatly.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YspfU_8bbv0. Accessed August 28, 2024.

· Adele Addison sings spirituals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xd-Yq0y1Vc&list=PLVaesGflLES-.Xqr7aN97tY_nQtPWqqgFE. Accessed August 28, 2024.

· Faure: Requiem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEXUymIzL4w&list=PLVaesGflLESXqr7aN97tY_nQtPWqqgFE&index=5. Accessed August 28, 2024.