Warfield, William (Caesar)
Warfield, William (Caesar)
Warfield, William (Caesar), African American baritone and teacher; b. West Helena, Ark., Jan. 22,1920. He studied at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. (B.Mus., 1942). Following service in the U.S. Army, he returned to Eastman in 1946 to pursue graduate training. After further studies with Otto Herz and Yves Tinayre, he completed his training with Rosa Ponselle (1958-65). From 1947 he appeared in N.Y. theaters. On March 19,1950, he made his recital debut at N.Y.’s Town Hall. After a concert tour of Australia in 1950, he sang Joe in Showboat in N.Y. in 1951. In 1952-53 he toured Europe as Porgy in Porgy and Bess. He continued to sing in musicals and operas in the U.S. and abroad, and also made concert tours of Africa and the Middle East (1956), Europe (with the Philadelphia Orch., 1956), and Asia (1958). In 1974 he became a teacher at the Univ. of 111. In 1984 he was elected president of the National Assn. of Negro Musicians. He married Leontyne Price in 1952, but they were divorced in 1974. With A. Miller, he publ. William Warfield: My Music & My Life (Champaign, 111., 1991). —NS/LK/DM
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire