Martina Arroyo

Martina Arroyo was one of the major American singers who suddenly appeared on the international vocal scene in the 1950s and 1960s. She was also a leader in a pioneering generation of black American singers who followed the example of Marian Anderson in breaking barriers on the opera and concert stages. She attended Hunter College in New York, taking a Bachelor of Arts in Romance Languages. She won the 1958 Metropolitan Opera Auditions (sharing first prize with the similarly illustrious Grace Bumbry). Arroyo was immediately invited to participate in a Carnegie Hall concert pe...