Leontyne Price

Leontyne Price, a Central State University alumna, was the first African American soprano to sustain an international opera career at the highest level. She became especially associated with Verdi’s Aida and with the Metropolitan Opera, opening doors for Black singers in houses that had long excluded them.

• First Black singer to maintain a long principal relationship with the Metropolitan Opera.
• Renowned interpreter of Verdi, especially the title role in Aida.
• Inducted into the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame in 1986.