We will be amplifying history with the aim to move viewers beyond reaction to action using the I-See-U Socio-Emotional Framework.
How to pronounce Leontyne Price (external link)
timing: 13, 76, 22, 15, 16 = 142
Primal Brain: Starting with a high-emotion, introductory statement, will positively influence the audiences perception of the rest of the video. This is accomplished by boosting the dopamine levels in their primal brain right at the start. Target emotions that can be triggered by things like surprise, shame, anxiousness, confusion, courageousness, cruelty, cynicism, distress, doom, intimidation, idealism, hostility, hopelessness, hopefulness accomplishment, gratefulness, mourning, belonging.
“One of the things about this extraordinary instrument that I have is the blackness in it, the natural flavor. It’s something extra,” exclaimed Leontyne Price.
25 words = 13 seconds
aim: 10- 160 words
Knowledgeable Brain: tell the story in a way that provides a visual and iconic image for each of the major events. We will add motion and sound, which together with the images, will inject the story into the viewer's long-term memory which are organized in the hippocampus, but with bits that are located at various places in the cortex where they are associated with sensory experiences and other tangential, previous memories that connect with and provide context.
At age 9, she was inspired by a virtuoso, black singer, Marian Anderson, who could only play in segregated halls.
Leontyne went to the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. Price's student performances , including the premiere of “Hermit Songs” led to her big break in 1955.
The NBC live Opera Theater series chose Price to sing in Puccini’s “Tosca”. She was the first black artist to appear in an opera on TV, but NBC affiliates in 11 cities in the South refused to show a program featuring a black Tosca and her white lover. Price noted it was “a breakthrough for me...(but) my state didn’t carry it.”
That was not the first, nor the last, racially motivated roadblock for Price. But eventually, due to her perseverance, in 1966, her performance of Antony and Cleopatra, at The Met's new opera house premier, was broadcast in her hometown, Laurel Mississippi.
152 words = 76 seconds
aim: 120-160 words
Our Logical Brain: Explain the importance of the story using dates, data, statistics, etc to reinforce it. This aims to engage the neocortex, where rational and analytical thought occurs.
From 1960 to 1980, she sang down the color barrier and helped to pave the way for black singers to achieve equal status as their white counterparts.
Her many awards include the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 19 Grammys and 3 Emmys.
TIming
41 words (22 seconds)
20-40 words (20 seconds)
Our Tribal Brain: Connect the story to where we are today. This can give the viewer a sense that they are part of a continuum in which the history and the present are joined. This feeling of connectedness occurs in the brain's Limbic System, which has no capacity for the expression of ideas as language, but is the most important factor for moving audiences beyond reaction to action.
Her children's book, called Aida, is based on one of the world's best known operas. The story's beloved, powerful, and beautiful characters are each represented by people of color.
Timing
29 words = 15 seconds
aim: 20-40 words
What do you want the audience to do with this new information? What can be said to move the viewer beyond reaction to action? Example:
Leontyne Price persevered by letting her performances speak for themselves. We may not have voices like her's, but we do have our own unique voice that we can use to fight for equality.
Timing
32 words (16 seconds)
aim: 6-20 words
509 words
255 seconds as is in this version.
target = 90-120 seconds
Leontyne Price
There are few singers with voices as superb as the deeply rich, emotionally complex, controlled power of Leontyne Price. “One of the things about this extraordinary instrument that I have is the blackness in it, the natural flavor. It’s something extra,” said Price.
Price was born in 1927 in Laurel, Mississippi in the segregated south, her mother was a midwife and her father worked in a sawmill. The granddaughter of Methodist ministers, she began singing in church and school. When she was 9 years old, she and her mother heard Marian Anderson sing in concert in a segregated hall in Jackson, and Price began to pursue her vocal career. After graduating from Wilberforce University, Price attended The Juilliard School of Music in New York City.
At the recommendation of Florence Page Kimball, Price’s voice teacher at Juilliard, Samuel Barber chose the 26-year-old soprano, to premiere “Hermit Songs” in 1953. Price's student performances drew attention, leading to her big break in 1955. NBC Opera Theater, a TV series that broadcast live opera performances, chose Price to sing in Puccini’s “Tosca” in 1955. She was the first black artist to appear in an opera on TV, but NBC affiliates in 11 cities in the South refused to show a program featuring a black Tosca and her white lover. Price noted it was “a breakthrough for me... My state didn’t carry it.”
That was not the first, nor the last, racially motivated roadblock for Price, but there was no stopping her and her amazing voice. She sang the lead role in Ira Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess in New York City from 1952 - 54. She sang the title-role in Verdi’s Aida, at Covent Garden in London in 1958. Her first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera was in 1961 with the triumphant debut performance in Verdi’s Il Trovatore”. This performance cemented her as a legend and landed her on the cover of Time. Price was the first black singer to appear regularly in opera houses around the world. She broke down the color bar and made sure that black singers had the same status as their white counterparts.
Samuel Barber’s premiere of Antony and Cleopatra was selected to inaugurate the Metropolitan Opera’s new house at the Lincoln Center in 1966. He wrote Cleopatra for Price. On opening day, she learned that radio stations in and around, Laurel, MS, had linked with the Met’s radio network and would carry Antony and Cleopatra live. She was thrilled.
From 1960 to 1980, she was a dominant singer on the international scene and in the recording studio. In 1985, Price gave her final performance at the Lincoln Center, in Verdi’s Aida – she was fifty-seven years old. In 1997, Price introduced children to the great opera heroine in her book Aida.
Her awards include the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964), the Kennedy Center Honors (1980), the National Medal of the Arts (1985), the National Association of Black Broadcasters Award (2002), the French Order of Arts and Letters, the Italian Order of Merit, 19 Grammys and three Emmys.