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Marian Anderson Essay Example

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Marian Anderson Essay Example
Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson was born on February 27, 1897, in Philadelphia, PA. John and Anna Anderson were Marian’s parents. Her dad was a loader at the Reading Terminal Market. He died in 1912 from an accident at work. Her mom was a teacher. Marian had two younger sisters. Marian showed that she was a great singer as a child, but her family did not have the money to pay for proper training. People in her church raised money for her to go to music school for a year. When Marian was six years old she started singing in the choir at the Union Baptist Church. She received the nickname "The Baby Contralto." When Anderson was eight years old her dad bought her a piano. Her family wasn’t able to pay for lessons so Marian taught herself. At the age of 13 years old, Marian joined the senior choir at church. She started visiting other churches. She grew to be well-known and started accepting invitations to sing. Marian was so popular, she sometimes performed at three different places in one night. Eventually, she received five dollars for each performance. When Marian was 15 she started voice lessons with Mary Saunders Patterson. The Philadelphia Choral Society raised money to give Marian $500.00 so she could study for two years with Agnes Reifsnyder. Marian went to William Penn High School until her music career developed. She switched to South Philadelphia High School where she focused on singing and music. Marian graduated at age 18. She tried to get into a local music school, but was turned away because of her color. Marian's devotion to music made an impression on the rest of her choir. Her church raised around $500, to pay for Marian to learn under Giuseppe Boghetti. She also won a chance to sing at the Lewisohn Stadium in New York from contest controlled by the New York Philharmonic Society.
In 1919, Marian performed at the National Baptist Convention. Marian sang in 1928 at Carnegie Hall for the first time. She later went on tour in Europe thanks to a

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    Marian Anderson was born on February 27th, 1897. She was the oldest of three sisters. Marian Anderson revealed her vocal talent as a child, but her family could not afford to pay for formal training. So her parents decided it was best to let her join the choir at the Union Baptist Church at the age of six. Then at the age of 13, Marian joined the senior choir. Within that time period Marian was also focused on attending her local high school until she was then notified that she was rejected because she was an African American. So Marian decided that it was best for her to attend the music high school that was located in Pennsylvania .Members of her church congregation raised funds for her to attend the music school for a year. As Marian impressed everyone with her talented voice her father decided it was best to surprise her with a piano that then meant so much to her. Mainly because she knew her parents couldn’t afford to pay for professional lessons so she decided to learn on her own. Furthermore, Marian Anderson commitment to her music and her choice as a singer very well impressed the rest of her choir the Union Baptist Church. They then gathered together and raised enough money, about $500, to pay for Anderson to train under Giuseppe Boghetti, a respected voice teacher. During her two years of studying with Boghetti, Anderson won a chance to sing at the Lewiston Stadium in New York after entering a contest organized by the New York Philharmonic Society. Other opportunities soon followed. In 1928 she performed at Carnegie Hall for the first time, and eventually she was then on tour around the world performing. Much of Marian’s life would eventually see her breaking down obstacles for an African-American performer. For example, in 1955 she became the first African-American singer to perform as a member of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Although Marian Anderson was…

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