Kathleen Battle Is an Award Winning African-American Singer

Kathleen Battle (born August 13, 1948, Portsmouth, Ohio, USA) is an African-American soprano known for her agile and light voice and her silvery, pure tone.One of the most prominent recitalists and opera singers of her generation, she is admired for her wide ranging recital repertoire and performances of the operas of Handel and Mozart. Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performances with major orchestras during the early and mid 1970s. She made her opera debut in 1975 and by the early 1980s had become a favorite at many of the world's best opera houses within the soubrette repertoire. Battle expanded her repertoire into light lyric soprano and lyric coloratura soprano roles during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1985, Michael Walsh of Time magazine called her the best lyric coloratura in the world.Although she no longer appears in operas, Battle remains active in concert and recital performances.

In August 2000, she performed an all-Schubert program at Ravinia. In June 2001, she and frequent collaborator soprano Jessye Norman, performed Vangelis' Mythodea at the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens, Greece. In July 2003 she performed at the Ravinia Chicago Symphony Orchestra Gala with Bobby McFerrin and Denyce Graves. In 2006 she and James Ingram sang the song They Won't Go When I Go in an Tribute to Stevie Wonder and she began including Wonder's music in her recitals. In July 2007 she debuted at the Aspen Music Festival performing an all-Gershwin program as part of a season benefit.In October 2007, at a fundraiser for the Keep a Child Alive Charity, Kathleen Battle and Alicia Keys performed the song Miss Sarajevo written by U2's Bono.

On April 16, 2008 she sang an arrangement of The Lord's Prayer for Pope Benedict XVI on the occasion of his Papal State visit to the White House. This marks the second time she sang for a pope. (She first sang for Pope John Paul II in 1985 as soprano soloist in Mozart's Coronation Mass.) On November 23, 2008, she performed Superwoman on the American Music Awards with Alicia Keys and Queen Latifah.