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Kathleen Battle is an American soprano, born August 13, 1948, in Portsmouth, Ohio, the youngest of seven children. Awarded a scholarship to the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, she majored in music education rather than performance. She earned a master's degree and embarked in 1971 on a teaching career in Cincinnati. While teaching 5th and 6th grade music, she studied voice privately. After an audition with Thomas Schippers (then conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra), Battle was hired, despite her lack of experience, to perform at the 1972 Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy.

Her career in classical music and opera progressed in the 1980s. She has worked with many of the world's most renowned conductors including Herbert von Karajan, Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Claudio Abbado, Georg Solti, Carlo Maria Giulini, and Battle's fellow Ohioan James Levine, music director at New York's Metropolitan Opera. The black American lyric-coloratura soprano has made many recordings and videos. On January 1, 1987, Karajan invited Battle to sing a waltz during Vienna's New Year's Day concert, the only time Karajan conducted the internationally televised annual event and the first time a singer had been engaged for such a contribution.

Battle portrayed opera ingenues and heroines, such as Pamina in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and Adina in Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore.

Battle's repertoire also embraces sacred music, jazz, and spirituals. She sang the title song, "Lovers," for the Chinese action movie, House of Flying Daggers, and has done collaborative work with other artists including flautist Jean-Pierre Rampal, Soprano Jessye Norman, Jazz Saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr., violinist Itzhak Perlman, and guitarist Christopher Parkening. In 1992 she and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis collaborated on the album "Baroque Duet" showcasing their virtuosic technique in the baroque repertoire. She was also soprano co-lead in Vangelis' project Mythodea. She is a five-time Grammy winner and also the recipient of six honorary doctorates from American universities.

Sadly, besides her beautiful voice, Battle was also renowned for her diva antics, both on- and off-stage. Such behavior reached a head during a run of La Fille du Regiment at the New York Metropolitan Opera, culminating in the Met's general manager, Joseph Volpe, firing her in February 1994 for "unprofessional actions."^[1] In his autobiography, The Toughest Show on Earth, Volpe said that he was under tremendous pressure to keep Battle because of her popularity. Since her firing, she has done other, non-operatic performances, such as movie soundtracks and recitals.

In 1999, Battle was inducted into the NAACP Image Hall of Fame.

1. ^ NY Times abstract

• Kathleen Battle - Short Biography
• Discography at SonyBMG Masterworks

Persondata
NAME	Battle, Kathleen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American opera singer
DATE OF BIRTH	August 13, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH	Portsmouth, Ohio
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH