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Article: Music; The Surprising Hines-Lee
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- August 1, 1991
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Year in and year out, some of the best singing in Washington is
heard in Howard University's Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel, but
Sunday's concert, the 1991 gala of the Hines-Lee Opera Ensemble, was
outstanding even by those standards. Three of the singers have sung
regularly as featured soloists at the Metropolitan Opera: sopranos
Myra Merritt and Carmen Balthrop (both of Washington) and baritone
Robert McFerrin.
McFerrin, in January 1955, was the first African American to
receive a contract as a member of the Met company, a few weeks after
Marian Anderson sang the only role she ever had there. More than 36