Classical training, soul, and folk music = Odetta!!

People talk about the power and clarity of Odetta's voice in praising her blues/folk singing. It was her academic classical training to be a professional singer that gave her those skills. She began voice lessons when she was 13. She was raised in Los Angeles, singing in musical theater and summer stock plays in California. Here is more detail on her bio: click.

In her radio interviw on NPR a couple of years ago, I heard her say that she fully planned a career in Oratorio, her idol being Marian Anderson, until she found folk music and switched genres. When Odetta received the National Medal of the Arts and Humanities in Washington, the "...ceremony was especially moving for Odetta, since her dear friend and childhood singing influence, Marian Anderson, was prevented from performing on that same stage just sixty years earlier because of the color of her skin."

In the 1970's she began performing in symphony and ballet performances. She has performed opera, musical theater, film acting... it was her foundation in bel canto voice technique that has given her the power and endurance to have a career that spans over 50 years, with a voice as strong as ever.

Her use of folk music in social activism has inspired a whole country in its transformation. Her powerful voice came from strong academic training and from her soul.

Alice