Grace Bumbry

**Grace Melzia Bumbry** (Janairu 4, 1937 - Mayu 7, 2023) ta kasance mawaƙiya ce ta wasan kwaikwayo ta Amurka, an dauke ta ɗaya daga cikin manyan soprano" id="mwDA" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Mezzo-soprano">mezzo-sopranos na ƙarni, wanda kuma ya shiga cikin rawar soprano. Ta kasance majagaba a tsakanin mawaƙa na gargajiya na Afirka, ta sami yabo na duniya a matsayin Venus a *Tannhäuser* a Bikin Bayreuth na 1961, mawaƙa na farko da ya bayyana a can.

Muryar Bumbry tana da wadata da ƙarfi, tana da fa'ida mai yawa, kuma tana iya samar da sautin da ya bambanta sosai. A cikin firamare, tana da kyakkyawar hanzari da fasahar bel canto, kamar misali fassarar Eboli a cikin Don Carlo na Verdi a cikin 1970s da 1980s. An san ta musamman saboda fuskarta mai zafi da tsananin ƙarfi a kan mataki. Daga baya, ta kuma zama sananniya a matsayin mai fassara da mai fassara, kuma a matsayin malami. Daga ƙarshen shekarun 1980 zuwa gaba, ta mai da hankali ga aikinta a Turai, maimakon a Amurka. Mazaunin Switzerland na dogon lokaci, ta shafe shekarunta na ƙarshe a Vienna.

## Rayuwa ta farko da ilimi
An haifi Grace Ann Melzia Bumbry a St. Louis, Missouri, a ranar 4 ga Janairu, 1937.  Ita ce ta uku na Benjamin Bumbry, mai kula da jigilar kayayyaki na jirgin kasa, da Melzia Bumbry، malami. Su iyali ne masu tawali'u, masu zurfin addini da kuma kiɗa sosai. Bumbry ta horar da piano na gargajiya tun tana 'yar shekara bakwai, amma ta yanke shawarar cewa za ta zama mawaƙa bayan ta ga Marian Anderson a cikin kide-kide.   Ta shiga ƙungiyar mawaƙa ta Methodist a lokacin da take da shekaru 12, kuma ta yi aiki a matsayin mai ba da gudummawa a cikin makarantar samar da *Almasihu* na Handel . Ta saurari Anderson a rediyo da kuma a cikin rikodin "a kowane dama"  kuma an yi wahayi zuwa gare ta ta zama mawaƙa ta hanyar sauraron St. Louis Symphony wanda Vladimir Golschmann ya jagoranta. 

Bumbry ta kammala karatu daga babbar Makarantar Sakandare ta Charles Sumner, makarantar sakandare ce ta farko a yammacin Mississippi. Daga baya ta yaba wa Kenneth Billups, malaminta na murya a Sumner (tare da malaminta na baya, Armand Tokatyan na Santa Barbara) saboda "ƙwarewar murya". A lokacin da take da shekaru 17, a kan roƙon Billups da Sara Hopes, darektan mawaƙanta, ta shiga kuma ta lashe gasar ƙwarewar matasa, wanda tashar rediyo ta St. Louis KMOX ta tallafawa. Kyaututtuka na farko sun haɗa da takardar shaidar yaki ta $ 1,000, tafiya zuwa New York, da kuma tallafin karatu zuwa Cibiyar Kiɗa ta St. Louis. Cibiyar, duk da haka, ta cire 'yan Afirka na Afirka, kuma iyayen Bumbry sun ki bayar da darussan murya masu zaman kansu a maimakon haka.

Da kunya, masu gabatar da gasar sun shirya ta bayyana a shirin rediyo na kasa na Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts, tana raira waƙar Verdi "O don fatale" daga *Don Carlos*. Ya motsa Godfrey zuwa hawaye. Nasarar wannan wasan kwaikwayon ta haifar da damar yin karatu a Kwalejin Fine Arts ta Jami'ar Boston. Daga baya ta koma Jami'ar Arewa maso Yamma,  inda ta sadu da Lotte Lehmann, soprano mai ban mamaki na Jamus, musamman ga rawar Wagner, wanda ya ba da darussan master a can kuma ya burge shi.

Lehmann ta gayyaci Bumbry don yin karatu tare da ita a Santa Barbara, California. Da farko an shirya shi ne kawai a lokacin rani na shekara ta 1955, Bumbry ya kasance a kan tallafin karatu daga Lehmann  na tsawon shekaru uku da rabi. A wannan lokacin, ta yi karatun piano da ka'idar (tare da György Sandor),  sannan ta ci gaba da karatun fassara da harsuna, kuma ta halarci shirin bazara na Kwalejin Kiɗa ta Yamma a Montecito a cikin shekaru uku a jere, 1956, 57 da 58.  Lehmann kuma ita ce mai ba da shawara a farkon aikinta. Bumbry ya kuma yi karatu tare da sanannun malamai Marinka Gurewich  da Armand Tokatyan.   Ta yi karatun waka tare da Pierre Bernac a Paris.

## Ayyuka
A shekara ta 1958, ta kasance mai cin nasara tare da Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions tare da soprano Martina Arroyo;  daga baya a wannan shekarar, ta fara yin wasan kwaikwayo a Paris. Bumbry ta fara wasan kwaikwayo a shekarar 1960 lokacin da ta raira Amneris a cikin Verdi's *Aida* a Paris Opera;  a wannan shekarar ta shiga Basel Opera,  inda ta kasance shekaru hudu. Matsayinta a can sun hada da Bizet's Carmen, Dalila a *Samson da Dalila* by Saint-Saëns, Orfeo a Gluck's *Orfeo ed Euridice*, da kuma Verdi's Lady Macbeth and Azucena . 

### Shahararren duniya
Bumbry ta sami shahara a duniya lokacin da Wieland Wagner, jikan Wagner, ya jefa ta a matsayin Venus a *Tannhäuser* a Bikin Bayreuth na 1961,  yana da shekaru 24, mawaƙa baƙar fata ta farko da ta bayyana a can, wanda ya ba ta laƙabi "Black Venus".   Wadanda aka jefa sun hada da Victoria de los Ángeles a matsayin Elisabeth, Wolfgang Windgassen a matsayin taken, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau a matsayin Wolfram, kuma Wolfgang Sawallisch ne ya gudanar da wasan kwaikwayo. Ta haifar da tashin hankali;  yayin da masu halartar wasan kwaikwayo masu ra'ayin mazan jiya suka yi fushi da ra'ayin, wasan kwaikwayon Bumbry ya motsa sosai har zuwa ƙarshen wasan kwaikwayo ta lashe masu sauraro kuma sun yi farin ciki na minti 30, suna buƙatar kiran labule 42.  

Fushin da ya biyo baya a cikin kafofin watsa labarai ya sa Bumbry ya zama sanannen sanannen duniya. Jacqueline Kennedy ce ta gayyace ta don raira waƙa a Fadar White House a shekarar 1962. Ta koma Fadar White House a 1981, tana raira waƙa a rantsar da Ronald Reagan.

### Rayuwa da mutuwarsa
A shekara ta 1963, Bumbry ta auri dan wasan Poland mai suna Erwin Jaeckel .  Sun sake aure a shekara ta 1972. Jack V. Lunzer, abokin tarayya na dogon lokaci, ya mutu a shekara ta 2016. 

A ranar 20 ga Oktoba, 2022, Bumbry tana cikin jirgin sama daga Vienna zuwa New York lokacin da ta kamu da bugun jini. Rashin lafiyarta ya ragu a cikin watanni masu zuwa, kuma ta mutu daga matsalolin da suka shafi a asibiti a Vienna a ranar 7 ga Mayu, 2023, tana da shekaru 86.