George Shirley

Who is George Shirley?

George Irving Shirley is an operatic tenor.

Shirley was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and raised in Detroit, Michigan. He earned a bachelor's degree in music education from Wayne State University in 1955 and then was drafted into the Army, where he became the first black member of the United States Army Chorus. He was also the first African American hired to teach music in Detroit high schools.

After continuing voice studies with Therny Georgi, he moved to New York and began his professional career as a singer. His debut was with a small opera group in Woodstock as Eisenstein in Strauss's Die Fledermaus in 1959, and his European debut in Italy as Rodolfo in Puccini's La Bohème. In 1960, at 26, he won a National Arts Club scholarship competition, and the following April he was the first African American to win the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions scholarship competition. Shirley is the first African American tenor and the second African-American male to sing leading roles for the Met.