Internationally Renowned Vocalist Denyce Graves to Perform at Claflin University in February

Graves’ career has taken her to the world's great opera houses and concert halls. The combination of her rich vocalism, elegant stage presence and exciting theatrical abilities allows her to pursue a wide breadth of operatic portrayals and to delight audiences in concert and recital appearances. She is particularly well-known to operatic audiences for her portrayals of the title roles in “Carmen” and “Samson et Dalila,” and appears continually on the stages of leading theaters in North America, Europe and Asia.

Graves’ programs include classical repertoire of German lieder, French mélodie and English art song, as well as the popular music of Broadway musicals, crossover and jazz together with American spirituals. She appears regularly on radio and television as a musical performer, celebrity guest, and as the subject of documentaries and other special programming.

Graves is a native of Washington, D.C., where she attended the Duke Ellington School for the Performing Arts. She continued her education at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and the New England Conservatory. Graves is the recipient of many awards, including the Grand Prix du Concours International de Chant de Paris, the Eleanor Steber Music Award in the Opera Columbus Vocal Competition and a Jacobson Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. In 1991, she received the Grand Prix Lyrique, awarded once every three years by the Association des amis de l’opéra de Monte-Carlo, and the Marian Anderson Award. In addition she has received honorary doctorates from Oberlin College, the College of Saint Mary and Centre College. She recently joined the voice faculty of the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore.

The Lyceum Series was established by Vergil Wright, a former Claflin professor, who gave the University $100,000 to create a lyceum series in honor of his father and Claflin alumnus, the Rev. Alonzo Webster Wright. The Lyceum Series exposes the Claflin family and the community to well-known and established musicians while nurturing the academic and social growth of students.

Admission to the Feb. 2 concert is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Claflin University’s Office of Communications and Marketing at 803-535-5077.