George Shirley Opera Access Fund

Professor George Shirley has been one of classical music’s greatest trailblazers since 1956. 

Born in Indianapolis, Indiana on April 18, 1934, the American tenor and teacher, George Irving Shirley, began music lessons at age 6, when his family relocated to Detroit, Michigan. He was active as a vocalist at churches in the area and as a baritone horn player in a local band. He entered Wayne State University in Detroit as a music education major, receiving his bachelors degree in 1955. He was drafted into the military the following year and became the first African-American member of the United States Army Chorus. 

After his discharge in 1959, he continued studying voice in Washington, D.C.; then he moved to New York where his professional career began. George Shirley made his debut with a small opera troupe at Woodstock, New York in a production of Die Fledermaus. He then traveled to Italy and made his European debut as Rodolfo Puccini’s popular opera, La Boheme. In 1961, he won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions by performing Nessum dorma, beginning an eleven-year association with the house. While at the Met, he sang 28 different roles from 26 operas, especially those of Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Strauss and Wagner. He has recorded for RCA, Columbia, Decca, Angel, Vanguard, CRI, and Philips and received a Grammy Award in 1968 for his role of Ferrando in the RCA recording of Mozart’s Così fan tutte. George Shirley became involved with education, and taught at the University of Maryland from 1980 until he accepted a position at the University of Michigan in 1987.  He remains a staunch advocate for arts education.