The renowned opera star was born in 1937 in Harlem to a Puerto Rican father and black American mother who gave her a love of culture and a pioneering spirit. She said that growing up, “absolutely none” of her friends or people in her neighborhood were interested in opera. “As far as my father was concerned, he was not interested at all in opera because he thought that we were gonna wear short dresses and kick up our legs,” she said. “He had never seen an opera.” Education was the central value in the Arroyo home and as her parents wished, she received her teaching degree at 19 years old. “My mother and father were afraid I wouldnt eat - well, of course, you can see I ate, but, for them, the teacher, doctor, meant security, whereas opera singer was like Well, who cares,” she said. “I dont think they were aware of how popular opera is in the rest of the world, but my mother got the bug early and lived with it with me throughout my career.”
Posted on: Fri, 27 Dec 2013 21:00:01 +0000
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