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reelsclassics on Instagram: "🎖️🕊️ John Newton and traditional melody New Britain – Amazing GraceJessye Norman – soprano 🎤Choir – uncredited in the video•The …"
🎖️🕊️ John Newton and traditional melody New Britain – Amazing GraceJessye Norman – soprano 🎤Choir – uncredited in the video•The melody Jessye Norman sings here first appeared in print, under the name New Britain, paired with a different text. At the gala that night, the hymn shared the stage with tributes to dancer Jacques d'Amboise, mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, blues musician B.B. King, and playwright Neil Simon. Sidney Poitier, born in Miami to Bahamian farmers, became known for turning down roles built on racial stereotypes. The CBS network only aired the gala weeks after it was recorded.•Listen again and notice the instant the picture cuts from the full stage to close-ups of the choir, mouths open in song: the volume jumps all at once, right at that change of shot. Notice too when the camera pulls back to show the whole stage, near the middle of the video. The sound drops all at once and stays low even after Jessye Norman's face returns in close-up.•This clip went up on the Kennedy Center's channel the day after Jessye Norman died. Still a teenager, she competed in the scholarship auditions of the Marian Anderson Foundation, named after one of the singers she listened to on recordings. It was there, in a competition she did not win, that she met Carolyn Grant, a voice teacher at Howard University, who arranged a full scholarship for the young singer. Years later, at Carnegie Hall, Norman sang spirituals alongside soprano Kathleen Battle, conducted by James Levine. In the audience sat Marian Anderson herself.•👉 Follow for the best of classical music daily on your feed.•#jessyenorman #amazinggrace #kennedycenterhonors #classicalmusic
