Sylvia Olden Lee (June 29, 1917 – April 10, 2004) was an American vocal coach and accompanist. She was the first African-American to be employed by the Metropolitan Opera. Her fields of expertise were European classical music and Negro spirituals.
Biography Lee was born in Meridian, Mississippi. Her father, James Clarence Olden, was a member of the Fisk Quartet, which included Roland Hayes. She studied piano and organ at Howard University and Oberlin Conservatory.
Among the highlights of her career: She was invited to play at the White House for the inauguration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933). In 1942, she toured with Paul Robeson. In 1954, after being hired as vocal coach for the Metropolitan Opera, she was the impetus for the historic invitation to African-American contralto Marian Anderson to perform in Giuseppe Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera. In 1956, she began studies with famed German baritone Gerhard Huesch.
Lee taught at a number of universities, including the Curtis Institute of Music. She is well known as a masterclass teacher.
She was the vocal coach for Kathleen Battle.
Lee's brother was the prominent African-American graphic designer Georg Olden. In 2017, Lee was commemorated in a concert at Carnegie Hall, sponsored by the Foundation for the Revival of Classical Culture.
Sylvia Olden Lee died on April 10, 2004 due to pancreatic cancer.
References
Further reading Sylvia Olden Lee & Elizabeth Nash. The Memoirs of Sylvia Olden Lee: Premier African-American Vocal Coach. Edwin Mellen Press, 2001.
External links Tribute to Sylvia Olden Lee Master Musician and Teacher Schiller Institute