William Franklin (opera)
Encyclopedia
William Franklin was an opera
singer who was considered to be a pioneering African American
in the Chicago music scene. William began playing trombone and singing in jazz groups after completing high school. After an auto accident he took up voice and enrolled at the Chicago Conservatory of Music.
He performed with La Julia Rhea
in a 1937 production of Verdi
's Aida
at the Chicago Civic Opera
. Franklin often appeared in other productions of the company and in the operetta performances of Gilbert and Sullivan
works.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singer who was considered to be a pioneering African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
in the Chicago music scene. William began playing trombone and singing in jazz groups after completing high school. After an auto accident he took up voice and enrolled at the Chicago Conservatory of Music.
He performed with La Julia Rhea
La Julia Rhea
La Julia Rhea was an American operatic soprano, and a pioneering African American figure in Chicago. Rhea was trained in Louisville, Kentucky and later in Chicago. She debuted in Chicago's Kimball Hall in 1929. She continued to make regular concert performances as she studied operatic roles...
in a 1937 production of Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
at the Chicago Civic Opera
Chicago Civic Opera
The Civic Opera Company was a Chicago company that produced seven seasons of grand opera in the Auditorium Theater from 1922 to 1928, and three seasons at its own Civic Opera House from 1929 to 1931 before falling victim to financial difficulties brought on in part by the Great Depression.-...
. Franklin often appeared in other productions of the company and in the operetta performances of Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
works.