Symphonic Saturday
The World Fair Colored Opera debuted on February 13, 1893 at Carnegie Hall. Frederick Douglass delivered the introductory remarks. The main attraction for the performance was featured soprano Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones, who was popularly known as “Black Patti” (after Italian opera singer Adelina Patti). Jones had performed at the Hall, previously in 1892, in a sold-out performance in the Recital Hall. The 1893 performance included the Fisk Jubilee Singers, contralto Lulu Hamer, baritone Jeff Caldwell of the London Conservatory, Will Cook on violin and pianist Paul Boen. The opera was staged to raise funds for a production of Will Marion Cook’s scenes from the Opera of Uncle Tom’s Cabin at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.
Carnegie Hall was founded in 1891 by Andrew Carnegie, inspired by his wife, to provide a venue for the finest musical artists in the world and to showcase excellence in performance. It proudly promoted Black talent. Inducted as Carnegie Hall icons were Jones, Marion Anderson, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Paul Robeson. Booker T Washington made 15 appearances there in 1896 and in 1904, Washington shared the stage with W.E.B. DuBois, in a program devoted to the topic of African American leadership.
Maureen D. Lee, Sissieretta Jones, ‘The Greatest Singer of Her Race’ 1868-1933 (2012)
Celebrating Black History at Carnegie Hall https://www.carnegiehall.org/Explore/Articles/2020/10/21/Celebrating-Black-History-at-Carnegie-Hall
Sissieretta Jones: The Black Patti from Carnegie Hall https://www.carnegiehall.org/Blog/2013/02/Sissieretta-Jones-The-Black-PattiFrom-the-Carnegie-Hall-Archives
www.carnegiehall.com and NYT 1-7-1893.