Quotes by Kathleen Battle

About Kathleen Battle:

Kathleen Deanna Battle is an American operatic light lyric soprano known for her distinctive vocal range and tone. Born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performances with major orchestras during the early and mid-1970s. She made her opera debut in 1975. Battle expanded her repertoire into lyric soprano and coloratura soprano roles during the 1980s and early 1990s until her eventual dismissal from the Metropolitan Opera in 1994.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

The question is not... if art is enough to fulfill my life, but if I am true to the path I have set for myself, if I am the best I can be in the things I do. Am I living up to the reasons I became a singer in the first place?

Kathleen Battle

Wherever and whenever I sing, if there is only one spiritual on a program, people will talk about two things afterward, and one of them will be the spiritual. What I bring to this is the best of my classical training - not all of it. I apply what is ...

Kathleen Battle

I sing what I sing. And that's recitals and orchestra concerts. To appease - no, that's not the right word - let's say to satisfy - any opera urgings that my public has, I'll put in an aria.

Kathleen Battle

I bring my classical training - some of it, but not all of it - and also my background and culture, to spirituals. And I try to leave room for that unpredictable factor, where the feeling of the song is allowed to come through. The same ethos can be ...

Kathleen Battle

When I do concerts and recitals, the two most common requests are spirituals and opera.

Kathleen Battle

I think for more than half of my career, I have refrained from talking to the media.

Kathleen Battle

I'm a consumer as well as a performer. Among my leisure-time activities is going to the theater. I'm very interested in that.

Kathleen Battle

People are drawn to the spiritual. It has a universal appeal.

Kathleen Battle

In spirituals, the talk of heaven and deliverance was code for a better life. 'Crossing the River Jordan' was code, of course, for escaping to freedom.

Kathleen Battle

Some of the things that have been the most meaningful to me have been experiences I've shared with my family.

Kathleen Battle

I hear music that comes out of need, out of grief, sorrow, suffering and out of overcoming these things, as well. That journey to freedom still goes on today. It's an incremental change, the culmination of many events in your own life and the lives o...

Kathleen Battle

How many of the original songs survive intact from the slave cabins? Probably not many in their original form. Time has transformed them like light in a prism. What we hope to present is a version of those spirituals, and they speak not just to black...

Kathleen Battle

Wynton and Christopher were really great experiences for me because they are both very gifted artists.

Kathleen Battle

New York is a great place to be fed in the arts. The arts in general are a large part of my life. The city was my postgraduate course.

Kathleen Battle

I can't imagine life without singing.

Kathleen Battle

Some of the music I listen to is pop. I sing it in the shower - and then for public consumption.

Kathleen Battle

From the spiritual came the blues, gospel, and rhythm-and-blues. I heard all of that music growing up, and that has influenced how I approached classical music. I'm sure of it.

Kathleen Battle

Author Bio

  • NameKathleen Battle
  • DescriptionAmerican opera singer
  • BornAugust 13, 1948
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionMusician; Singer; Opera Singer
  • AwardsLaurence Olivier Award