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Honoring a Legacy: The Final Conversation with Arthur Woodley

2021; Routledge; Volume: 78; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.53830/wevc6237

2769-4046

Justin John Moniz, Minnita Daniel-Cox,

Musicology and Musical Analysis

Honoring a Legacy: The Final Conversation with Arthur Woodley Justin John Moniz (bio) and Minnita Daniel-Cox (bio) THE VOCAL POINT American bass Arthur Woodley appeared with prestigious opera companies around the U.S. and abroad, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, Seattle Opera, L'Opera de Montreal, Opera Philadelphia, Dallas Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Pittsburgh, Opera, New Orleans Opera, and Opera Theatre of St. Louis. His many roles included Varlaam in Boris Godunov, Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro, the Four Villains in Les contes d'Hoffman, Kuno in Der Freischütz, Banquo in Macbeth, Nick Shadow in The Rake's Progress, Sulpice in La fille du régiment, Leporello in Don Giovanni, Rocco in Fidelio, Publio in La clemenza di Tito, Angelotti in Tosca, Achillas in Giulio Cesare, and Dansker in Billy Budd. Woodley created the role of Dick Hallorann in Paul Moravec's The Shining, at the Minnesota Opera, and Emile Griffith in Champion, at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Mr. Woodley had a distinguished history with the role of Porgy in Porgy and Bess. He sang the role in concert with the San Francisco Symphony, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, and on tour in Italy, including Santa Cecilia in Rome, with Yuri Temirkanov. In staged performances, he appeared with Opera Philadelphia, Indianapolis Opera, Opera Colorado, Bregenz Festival, the Savolinna International Festival in Finland, and the Catfish Row Opera Company of Charleston, South Carolina, in a gala celebration of the 50th anniversary of the opera's debut. In concert, Mr. Woodley appeared with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Houston Symphony, Modesto Symphony, the U.S. Naval Academy, the American Composers Orchestra in Carnegie Hall, the Collegiate Chorale at Lincoln Center, and at the Bard Music Festival. He also sang the world premiere of God, Mississippi, and Medgar Evers with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and was the bass soloist in Beethoven's Click for larger view View full resolution Arthur Woodley [End Page 289] Symphony No. 9 in Mexico City with Sir Neville Marriner and The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Mr. Woodley was born in New York City and raised in Saint Croix. He tragically lost his brief battle with cancer on Friday, November 20, 2020, at the age of 71. Arthur Woodley and Justin John Moniz served as colleagues at NYU Steinhardt. As part of a larger project entitled, "A Fight for the Light: Underrepresented Journeys to the Stage," both Justin and Minnita Daniel-Cox sat down with Mr. Woodley to discuss his personal and professional journey shortly before his passing. Justin John Moniz: Arthur, what are your proudest artistic achievements? Arthur Woodley: I would say the big opening gala at the Met this past year. Also, the previous gala with Netrebko and all these fantastic singers. She was a featured artist and I did my part in La bohème. But, the first was Porgy and Bess, an opera that I've known for a very long time—especially with all those voices that were there. All the fantastic, fantastic voices. I like to call it the Ebony Classes. That experience was absolutely wonderful. I was born in Harlem, but my early years were spent in the Virgin Islands, which is where my parents are from and where I started school. Ninety-five percent of my family remained there, so I would go back if Mom had the money to send me back. She would usually cobble those pennies together and off I would go to the islands. So, one of my greatest achievements was going back to the islands after I'd completed my studies and began my career. I actually did a concert in the church in which we had all grown up. My mother had grown up there, my uncles, my aunts, my grandparents, and my great-grandparents. So, we're talking about going back 150 or more years in that church—a church which is now over 250 years old. Returning to that space, standing there, and giving a recital was one of my proudest achievements. I was there and my family was there. My mother was there...