Inez Matthews

Among the few African American singers to pursue a classical career in the middle 20th century, Inez Matthews made several recordings. She was heard on the soundtrack of the 1959 film Porgy and Bess. Matthews was born on August 23, 1917, in Ossining, New York. Her family was musical; her older brother, Edward Matthews, performed on tour with the famed Fisk Jubilee Singers. The pair were both heard by Katherine Moran Douglas, a soprano and a cast member at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and it was she who gave Inez her first singing lessons. Matthews also studied with Pau...