Opera singer Denyce Graves tells how growing up in Anacostia helped her career

Opera singer Denyce Graves’ voice has taken her around the world – but her journey started in Southeast D.C.’s Anacostia neighborhood.

As Graves helped to inspire the next generation of opera stars, she spoke with News4 about her D.C. roots.

Graves was on stage last week at the French embassy but she wasn’t performing; she was teaching.

“You don’t need to be off to the races. Music also needs silence sometimes,” she told one singer.

Graves and fellow opera superstar Renée Fleming sent the week teaching master classes to young opera hopefuls. The event was sponsored by Opera for Peace, a global nonprofit that fosters young talent around the world.

“Building on the success of our past Opera for Peace academies in Europe – in Rome and in Paris – we were looking for the next city to develop activities, and Washington, D.C., was our priority,” Opera for Peace cofounder Julia Lagahuzère said. “We have invited artists from all over the world to come to this amazing capital, to work together, to find their voices and to become an inspiration for the next generation of talents.”

“Denise is such an amazing, inspirational figure, a legend in our opera field, and she’s been doing such great work in the community. And Opera for Peace wanted to join forces to develop that great work,” Lagahuzère added.

Graves, who has a home in Maryland, not only helped with the master classes but her foundation also partnered with Opera for Peace. She said she enjoys working with students.

“For me, it’s really out of a love for my students and wanting to make sure that I turn them out into a world prepared – not only making beautiful tones, but being equipped for the business of music making, which is very, very different from the music-making piece,” she said. “It’s out of the love for my students and wanting to see them have their turn, wanting them to succeed.”

While Graves travels the world to perform and teach, she hasn’t forgotten about her hometown and growing up in Anacostia.

“I grew up in a tough area, right? And the decision to want to become an opera singer at 13 years old, to announce that, was not something that really played well. I mean, that was not received with a great amount of enthusiasm,” she said.

“But definitely growing up with the kind of tough skin I think that one has to grow up with in Anacostia, the kind of grit that I had to learn to cultivate, the kind of water off a duck’s back that I had to learn to really embrace has served me tremendously in this profession,” she said.

“You have to be a soldier, and growing up on Galveston Street in Anacostia prepared me for the thick skin that one needs to have in this business,” she said.

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