LPARA DPAR@ ` ╝TEXT ` «Sills, Beverly1929╨opera singerBorn in Brooklyn, New York, on May 25, 1929, Belle Silverman was early destined by her mother for a career in the performing arts. At three, as Bubbles Silverman, she began a four-year stint as a regular singer on ╥Uncle Bob╒s Rainbow House,╙ a Saturday morning radio program. She won a prize on ╥Major Bowes╒ Amateur Hour╙ at six, made a couple of motion-picture shorts, and became a regular on ╥Major Bowes Capitol Family Hour╙ and later on the soap opera ╥Our Gal Sunday,╙ on which she played a ╥nightingirl of the mountains.╙ At twelve she retired to complete her education in public schools and the Professional Children╒s School in New York, from which she graduated in 1945. She studied singing with Estelle Liebling for many years. For ten years she toured almost constantly with the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, with the Charles Wagner Opera Company, and under other auspices, gradually developing a repertoire in grand opera. In 1955 Sills joined the New York City Opera, making her debut in October in Die Fledermaus. Over the next several years she broadened her repertoire remarkably and built a reputation as a truly outstanding coloratura soprano. Her impeccable vocal precision, her musicality, her dramatic flair, and her vivid personality all combined to make her a favorite of audiences and of other musicians. Among the works in which she performed were La Traviata, The Siege of Corinth, Faust, Julius Caesar, Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, and The Tales of Hoffman, in which in October 1965 she dazzled critics by singing all three female roles. In July 1956 she sang in the premiere of Douglas Moore╒s The Ballad of Baby Doe and in October 1961 she sang in the premiere of his Wings of the Dove. In 1966 she sang Rameau╒s Hippolyte et Aricie with Sarah Caldwell╒s Opera Company of Boston. Her Manon with the New York City Opera in February 1969 was a great success, but it was eclipsed by the thunderous reception of her performance in The Siege of Corinth in her La Scala debut in April 1969. She made her London debut at Covent Garden in 1971 and her long-awaited Metropolitan Opera debut, again in The Siege of Corinth, in April 1975. From 1971 Sills appeared also on the concert stage. Her personal charm and warmth made her popular even among non-musical audiences, and she was a frequent guest on television talk shows. In 1976 she had her own local television show in New York City, ╥Lifestyles with Beverly Sills,╙ for which she won an Emmy award. She published an autobiography, Bubbles: a Self-Portrait, in 1978, and a second, Beverly, in 1987. Among her many awards and honors are New York City╒s Handel Medallion in 1973, the Pearl S. Buck Women╒s Award in 1979, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980, and the Kennedy Center honors. She retired from the opera and concert stage in 1980, having turned her skills toward management as general director of the New York City Opera in 1979. She remained in that post until 1989, also serving as president of the Board from 1980 to 1990. In 1991 she moved to the Metropolitan Opera as managing director. In 1994 Sills was the first woman elected chair of Lincoln Center. Fstyl ` 6 ! ¬ 5¬ 5¬ # !I ╪ 5¬ ┘ !I & !I 4 !I Æ !I ¥ !I ƒ !I │ !I ╡ !I ║ !I ╝ !I ┬ !I ├ !I ╔ !I ╦ !I ▐ !I α !I ∞ !I ε !I ± !I ≥ !I ² !I !I !I ú !I ║ !I ε !I ÷ !I ≈ !I !I !I 0 !I 5 !I ▐ C !I d !I j !I ≤ !I !I Ö !I ¡ !I └ 5¬ ┴ !I
