Leontyne Price Orpheum Theater Poster

Leontyne Price established an impressive legacy, achieving stardom as a woman of color during a time of segregation in America and in a profession where limited opportunities existed for someone with her background.

Mary Violet Leontyne Price was born on February 10, 1927, in Laurel, Mississippi. Renowned for her early stage and television work, Price made her opera stage debut at the San Francisco Opera in 1957, and her debut at New York City's Metropolitan Opera House in 1961. Price became one of the first African-American singers to gain an international reputation in opera.

In September 1964, the then 37-year-old Price was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Lyndon B. Johnson. Two decades later, in 1985, she became a National Medal of Arts recipient. Throughout her career, Price's recordings earned her numerous honors, including more than a dozen Grammy Awards.