ANN ARBOR, Mich., Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Opera singer Shirley Verrett died in her sleep in Ann Arbor, Mich., a friend and colleague said. She was 79.
Verrett was a mezzo-soprano known for her vocal richness and exciting characterizations on stage, the Detroit Free Press reported. She died Friday.
"She was one of America's greatest opera singers," friend and colleague George Shirley said. "She had a tremendous impact artistically and as a person, and in recent years she was a wonderful teacher and mentor for students. She was an extension of the Marian Anderson figure -- dignified, gracious and possessed of an outstanding voice and interpretive sense."
An African-American, Verrett came to prominence at the height of the civil rights movement and she was one of the first black American opera singers, the report said.
Critic Tim Page hailed her "for her membership in that pioneering group of African-American singers who broke down the opera world's longstanding color bar."
Verrett was born in New Orleans on May 31, 1931, and rose to stardom as Carmen, starting with the Spoleto Festival in 1962, reprising the role two years later at the New York City Opera, and again at Covent Garden in London in 1973.
"Her voice is richly burnished with an even range of more than two octaves, used with the utmost intelligence," said critic Alan Blyth in The New Grove Dictionary of American Music. "She fuses word, tone and gesture into an unforgettable characterization."
Verrett had been ill with heart trouble for some time.
Verrett is survived by Lou LoMonaco, her husband of 47 years, and their adopted daughter.
