The music world is mourning the passing of opera singer Martina Arroyo, who passed away in her Manhattan home on Tuesday, October 13.
A renowned soprano, her passing was confirmed to The New York Times by her representative, Miracle Management.
She was 90 years old.
Broke Color Barriers in Opera
Arroyo made her opera debut in 1958 at Carnegie Hall, and in 1959 made her first appearance in a small role on the stage of New York’s Metropolitan Opera.
Her career path, however, was unorthodox. In those early years, she supplemented her income by taking jobs as a social worker and schoolteacher.
She spent several years in Europe buliding her career. In 1963, she landed her first major role when she was offered a contract to join the Zurich Opera. Making her debut with the company in the title role of Verdi’s “Aida,” Arroyo remained a resident artist with the Zurich Opera until 1965.
That year, she received a phone call from the Met’s general manager Rudolph Bing, who asked her to replace a singer in a production of “Aida” who had fallen ill.
Initially believing the call was a prank, she sang in that singer’s place. Her performance was reportedly so spectacular that she was immediately offered a contract with the company.
Later that year, she starred as Elisabetta in Verdi’s “Don Carlo,” then Leonora in Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” and Cio-Cio-San in Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.”
Of her 1969 Met performance “Il Trovatore,” New York Times opera critic Harold C. Schonberg wrote that Arroyo “always had a big, soaring voice. Now she sings with color, knows how to pace herself and produces tone after tone of focused beauty.”
One of a handful of Black opera singers to break color barriers during the 1960s, she starred in three season-opening productions at the Met during the early 1970s. She went on to perform at the Met more than 200 times.
A Hearty Sense of Humor
As the Times pointed out, she was renowned for her down-to-earth demeanor and wicked sense of humor.
That was evident in her frequent appearances on “The Tonight Show,” where her witty banter with host Johnny Carson captivated viewers. Over the years, she made more than 20 appearances on the show.
Beyond that, she also portrayed herself in a 1975 episode of hit sitcom “The Odd Couple,” in which she’s introduced by Felix Unger (Tony Randall) to sportscaster Howard Cosell, an opera fan.
Honored By the Kennedy Center
Health issues forced her to scale back her performing. Her final performance at the Met was in a 1986 production of “Aida.” A few years later, in 1989 she announced her retirement.
She founded The Martina Arroyo Foundation in 2003, which was dedicated to to nurturing emerging young opera singers. Arroyo also taught masterclasses, and was a Trustee Emerita of the Hunter College Foundation, in addition to being a member of the Board of Trustees at Carnegie Hall.
Other honors included an honorary doctorate from City University of New York, induction into the Academy of Vocal Arts’s Hall of Fame for Great American Opera Singers, receiving a 2010 Opera Honors Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and induction into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame
In 2013, Arroyo was among the artists honored by the Kennedy Center, alongside the likes of rocker Billy Joel, actress Shirley MacLaine, guitarist Carlos Santana and jazz musician Herbie Hancock.
At the ceremony, she was introduced by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
“We justices are fond of using words precisely. Long before ‘diva’ took on a different meaning, it was used sparingly to describe only those opera singers who took us to another world,” Sotomayor told the audience. “Now that’s the kind of diva I’m talking about — that’s Martina Arroyo.”
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Trailblazing Singer and Kennedy Center Honoree Has Passed Away at 90