On February 11, in honor of Black History Month, the New York City Opera (NYCO) and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture joined forces for a splendid evening, at the Schomburg Center in Harlem, coordinated by NYCO dramaturg Cori Ellison and billed as "'One Fine Day': a Tribute to Camilla Williams," the company's first African-American prima donna (1946-1954), now 89. Many of the noted soprano and teacher's family members, longtime friends, classmates, students and colleagues filled the center's Langston Hughes Auditorium to see Williams once again and hear her, cheer her, pay homage to her, and share memories of her matchless music, wisdom, wit and charm. It was clear that we were in the presence of a legend or, as Ellison put it, a "national living treasure."

The fête began with the premiere of a film, made for the occasion by Richard and Jan Glazier, about the "first Black singer to appear with an important opera company in the United States." Nearly a decade before Rudolf Bing invited contralto Marian Anderson to break the color barrier for singers at the Metropolitan Opera, as Ulrica in Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera," Williams was, at the invitation of founding General Director Laszlo Halasz, singing the title roles in the NYCO premieres of Puccini's "Madama Butterfly," on May 15, 1946, and Verdi's "Aida," on October 28, 1948. She also sang Mimì, in Puccini's "La Bohème," and Nedda, in Leoncavallo's "I Pagliacci," with the company. Married for 20 years to late civil rights attorney Charles T. Beavers, Williams sang the "Star Spangled Banner" at the 1963 March on Washington, just before Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s historic "I have a dream" speech, and also sang at the ceremony at which he received the Nobel Peace Prize. As part of the soundtrack, we were treated to the soprano's singing of spirituals "Oh, What a Beautiful City!" and "Little David, Play on Your Harp," Debussy's "Beau soir," and Gershwin's "Bess, you is my woman now," from the 1951 first complete recording of "Porgy and Bess," in which she starred in opposite NYCO colleague Lawrence Winters.

Immediately after the screening, a radiant Williams, swathed all in white, entered to a standing ovation, along with her accompanist and friend since 1947, Dr. Boris Bazala, age 98. They had come in from Bloomington, where she had taught, until a decade ago, at Indiana University. Ellison said, "We honor her for the kind of artist and kind of person she is," not just for "her groundbreaking achievements," to introduce "a sort of 'This Is Your Life, Camilla Williams,'" noting that it has been "a long life, from the segregated South [in Danville, Virginia] to seeing President Obama in office." "My grandfather [Alexander Cary], seven feet tall, was a self-taught musician ... a basso profundo," Williams shared, and everyone in the family received musical training. "I sang my first solo when I was five," she added. When she was 12, a teacher visiting from Wales gave her sheet music for "'One Fine Day' ["Un bel dì"], with a picture of a Japanese lady on it," but she knew it was too soon to study "Madama Butterfly," and he taught her music of Mozart instead.

photo by Fred Fehl
Giuseppe Valdengo & Camilla Williams 'Pagliacci'

Her classmate at Virginia State College, Edward Robinson, inspired by her singing "A City Called Heaven," got his fellow "rough" football players together to collect money for a scholarship for her to study in Philadelphia. "Camilla, we are blessed that you made it, and that impossible dream became a reality." Her longtime teacher in Philadelphia was Mme Marion Szekely-Freschi, who had heard Anderson sing in Europe and, when she came to America, said, Williams related, "'I want to teach a Negro singer. There's something about the warmth of the Negro voice.'"

Arthur Judson came to represent Williams, as her manager, and had her go to Connecticut for a concert, which Geraldine Farrar, who had sung "Butterfly" at its Met premiere, had heard. Farrar sent her to sing for baritone Giuseppe Danise, who said, "She's the perfect Butterfly." Judson then sent Williams to sing for NYCO's Halasz, who taught her the role of Butterfly. Halasz received death threats for scheduling her to sing. "They said they were going to shoot him in the back," said Williams, adding, "and they didn't shoot people in the '40s ... that started in the '60s!" But, she recalled, "the great Farrar came to my Butterfly and endorsed me" and, indeed, Farrar told Newsweek, "I would say that she is already one of the great Butteflys of our day."

Halasz's daughter, Suzanne, agreeing with Ellison, offered, "It's perfect to describe you as a national living treasure," and Julius Rudel, NYCO's second General Director commented that Williams was not chosen for a debut "by the color of her skin, but by the quality of her voice." Rudel's daughter played the child, Trouble, to Williams' Butterfly. When Rudel praised the soprano's Butterfly, Mimì and Nedda, she was quick to interject, "Don't forget Aida!" She committed "Aida" excerpts to disk, under Halasz, with a NYCO cast, in 1950, and we heard her lyrical, if abbreviated, "Ritorna vincitor ... Numi, pieta" here.

Bazala came to America from Bulgaria in 1947 and was recommended to Williams to assist her in a 50-performance recital tour. He rehearsed with her in Philadelphia for the first time and said, about that first encounter "I would never expect to hear a heavenly voice," which "reminded me of [German soprano] Tiana Lemnitz. ... I hear 'E Susanna non vien [...Dove sono,' from Mozart's 'Le Nozze di Figaro' and] we go over the whole program" and made no changes. Williams commented, "He played the spirituals: I wondered how he knew about them," which Ellison answered by quipping, "Slavic people have a lot of soul." Williams and Bazala recorded French and German songs together, in addition to spirituals, and we got to hear their take on Koechlin's "Si tu le veux."

Williams would also sing Ilia in the New York premiere of Mozart's "Idomeneo," with the Little Orchestra Society (1950); in the Vienna premiere of Menotti's "The Saint of Bleecker Street" (1955); and Angelica, in the local premiere of "Orlando," with the Handel Society of New York (January 18, 1971, which I heard), before she retired from opera and turned to teaching, per Anderson's suggestion. Dr. John Motley, director of Talent United and a "dear, dear friend" (Williams) and "great figure in the New York music world, the national music world" (Ellison), gave Williams some of her first opportunities to teach. She spent time as Professor of Voice at Brooklyn College, Bronx College and Queens College. Motley said, of Williams and her students, that she "taught them how to dress, taught them how to speak, taught them how to be on time" and concluded, "God sent her to us."

A pianist as well as filmmaker, Richard Glazier played "Bess, You Is My Woman Now" as "a little hommage" (French pronunciation) to Williams, said Ellison. Rev. Clifton E. Gatewood, Pastor of Salem United Methodist Church, spoke of the benefit recital at Hunter College that Williams gave for the church and related that she also sang at his daughter, Chanel's wedding in 1990. Adele Allen, daughter of Williams' oldest friend, Dr. Hattie Allen, from Danville, and great-niece of Williams' Sunday School teacher (now 101), declared that the soprano "has always been a woman of grace, of poise, of charm ... Aunt Camilla will always be The Diva!"

After Ellison played the singer's recording of the spiritual "His Name so Sweet," Williams enthused, about the event, "I'm so grateful. I'm so thankful." Several of Williams' past pupils spoke, including Rebecca Lyman, a cellist and teacher, who read a letter from Indiana University President Michael A. MacRobbie, which, startlingly, seemed spontaneously to combust. Krystal Prime Banfield termed Williams "a professional, a survivor" and was among those who praised Williams' talents as a matchmaker and as a shopper for appropriate clothing for her students. Williams' cooking also came in for some glowing words.

Finally, soprano Janet Williams-no relation, but a student of CW, who said, "Camilla, you have been my inspiration"-and pianist Lawrence Gee-who played for CW's classes and served as NYCO assistant conductor during Beverly Sills' tenure as General Director-offered, at the honoree's request, a delicate, beautiful "This Little Light of Mine," during which the woman of the hour, who was mouthing the words along with her pupil, periodically interjected, responsively, "Yes."

On March 31, NYCO and the Schomburg Center celebrate the 60th anniversary, to the day, of the opera company's world premiere presentation of "Troubled Island" by "Dean of African-American composers" William Grant Still and "Poet Laureate of Harlem" Hughes, with an abridged concert performance by Opera Noire soloists. Tickets at $10 are available at the Schomburg Shop, at 515 Malcolm X Boulevard and 135th Street, by calling 212/491-2206 between Tuesday and Saturday, from noon to 6 p.m., or on line from www.Telecharge.com.