The repertoire of American singer Jessye Norman (born 1945) encompassed an uncommonly wide range, from Monteverdi to Boulez. Her rich soprano voice, however, was sometimes plagued by problems of voice production.

Jessye Norman was born on September 15, 1945, in Augusta, Georgia. Her father, an insurance broker, and her mother, a schoolteacher, encouraged her musically, so she was singing in church choirs from the age of four. Apart from her great love of singing, her childhood was by all accounts typical. Her first step toward a singing career, taken at the suggestion of her high school chorus teacher, was to enter the Marion Anderson vocal competition in Philadelphia at age 16. Though she did not win the competition, as a result of her singing she did gain a full scholarship to Howard University in Washington, D.C. There she studied voice with Carolyn Grant. After graduating from Howard she continued her singing...