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Soprano Jessye Norman, one of America’s most celebrated performing artists, will give the spring commencement address at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chancellor James Moeser has announced.


Moeser will preside at the ceremony, set for May 11, 2008, at 9:30 a.m. in Kenan Stadium.

The chancellor met Norman when they both were inducted as fellows into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences earlier this fall.

"Jessye Norman is one of the world's greatest voices,” Moeser said. “I have heard her speak and perform passionately. The perspective she will bring about the role of the arts in our world today is a very important one for our graduates to consider as they leave Carolina.

“We are proud of how the arts and humanities help anchor the high-quality liberal arts education that Carolina provides to students,” he said. “Jessye Norman's appearance will help put an exclamation point on the progress we have made in elevating the profile of these important attributes of a Carolina education."

The University’s Board of Trustees also has approved the awarding of an honorary doctor of music degree to Norman during next May’s ceremony.

Norman has been described as “one of those once-in-a-generation singers who is not simply following in the footsteps of others, but is staking out her own niche in the history of singing.” She is known for bringing her joy of singing and passion to recital performances, operatic portrayals and appearances with symphony orchestras and chamber music collaborators to audiences around the world. The size, power and luster of her voice share equal acclaim with her music-making, innovative programming of the classics and fervent advocacy of contemporary music. Norman has collaborated with artists including Robert Wilson, Andre Heller, Bill T. Jones and Steve McQueen.

Her recent performances included a staged version of Schubert’s “Winterreise” by Wilson and the double-bill of “Erwartung” of Schoenberg and “La Voix Humaine” of Poulenc staged by Heller.

Norman’s performances are often characterized as in a New York Times article that said, “This is an amazing voice, a catalogue of all that is virtuous in singing.” And The Jerusalem Post has reported, “The immensity of her voice struck like a thunderbolt. … It was like an eruption of primal power.”

In 2003, the Jessye Norman School of the Arts in her hometown of Augusta, Ga., opened its doors to talented middle school students for studies in music performance, drama, dance and art. The students attend this after-school program tuition-free. A fellowship and master class series in her name established recently at the University of Michigan School of Music further attest to Norman’s encouragement and support of emerging talent. 

Norman has received numerous awards and honors. In 1997, she was selected to become the youngest recipient of the highest award in U.S. performing arts, the Kennedy Center Honor. Her other distinctions include honorary doctorates at about 30 colleges, universities and conservatories around the world.  In 1984 the French government bestowed upon Norman the title Commandeur de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and the National Museum of Natural History in Paris named an orchid for her. 

In 1989 she was awarded the Legion d’Honneur by French President Mitterand, and in 1990 she was named honorary ambassador to the United Nations by U.N. Secretary Xavier Perez de Cuellar. Norman was awarded the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal in 2000 to recognize her humanitarian and civic contributions. 

Norman’s recordings have won numerous awards, including France’s Grand Prix National du Disque for albums of lieder by Wagner, Schumann, Mahler and Schubert; London’s Gramophone Award for her interpretation of Strauss’ “Four Last Songs”; Amsterdam’s Edison Prize; and recording honors in Belgium, Spain and Germany.  In the United States, her Grammy Award-winning recordings include “Songs of Maurice Ravel” and Wagner’s “Lohengrin” and “Die Walküre.” “Bluebeard’s Castle,” with Pierre Boulez and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, received the Grammy Award for best opera in 1999. She also won an ACE Award from the National Academy of Cable Programming for “Jessye Norman at Notre Dame,” which aired on the Arts and Entertainment Television Network. 

In 2000, Norman released her first jazz CD, “I Was Born in Love with You,” to wide acclaim. It featured music of Michel Legrand, with Legrand at the piano, bassist Ron Carter and percussionist Grady Tate. 

Besides her busy performance schedule, Norman serves on the boards of directors for The New York Public Library, the New York Botanical Garden, Citymeals-on-Wheels in New York City, The Dance Theatre of Harlem and Howard University. Norman is a member of the board as well as national spokesperson for the Lupus Foundation and national spokesperson for The Partnership for the Homeless. In Augusta, Ga., she serves on the Board of Trustees of Paine College and The Augusta Opera Association. A relentless Girl Scout cookie seller, she is a lifetime member of the Girl Scouts of America. 

In 2006, Norman became only the fourth opera/classical music singer in the history of the Grammy Awards to be presented the Lifetime Achievement Award for Classical Music.

In 2007, Norman’s European performances have included a recital in Paris at The Salle Pleyel entitled “Les Voix Francaises,” her homage to the great tradition of music in France and her special place in the hearts of French music enthusiasts. She was also presented in the opening performance of the Celebration of Women in the Arts in Barcelona and in recital for the closing performance of the Festival of Classical Music in The Hague.

Norman was guest artist-in-residence at the 20007 Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colo., where she offered three talks on her life in music, the importance of arts education in the public schools and the political and social elements required to make the arts available for all to explore and experience.

Also this year Norman was presented in a jazz concert featuring the music of Duke Ellington at the Festival of Cap Roig and in recital in El Escorial, both in Spain. Other appearances have been at the Opera House of Detroit and the Grand Theatre of Aix-en-Provence in France. In the United States, she presents music programs in schools where arts education is absent from the school system’s curricula.

Norman was named a “Living Landmark of New York City” by the Landmarks Conservancy and was awarded the Nelson A. Rockefeller Award for artistic achievement by the State University of New York’s Purchase College.

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Contact: Mike McFarland, (919) 962-8593, mike_mcfarland@unc.edu

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