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Henrietta Davis
Opera Singer
Spring 1971 Graduate
Henrietta is one of the Bay Area's most accomplished singers. While at Lincoln, Henrietta studied under choral director Sandy McCabe. After graduation, she attended San Francisco State University from which she received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1977. A product of the San Francisco Opera's Merola Program, Henrietta has been accorded numerous honors. Three times she won awards for the New York Metropolitan Opera Auditions and was second place winner in the San Francisco Opera Auditions and the Merola Opera Program.
Henrieta's operatic credits include appearances with the San Francisco Spring Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, Brown Bag Opera and the Oakland Opera in such works as Cosi Fan Tutte (Mozart), Carmen (Bizet), Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart), Death in Venice (Benjamin Britten), Don Giovanni (Mozart), Carmen Jones (Bizet adaptation), La Boheme (Puccini), and Porgey & Bess (Gershwin).
Her characterization of Bess in Porgy & Bess has not only won her numerous accolades but may have defined the role. Appearing on Broadway in a smash revival. she went on to star in the 1988 American and European tour of the Houston Grand Opera's production of Gershwin's masterpiece. The Georgetower raved that "Davis' Bess is earthy, slinky-sexy, a brass trumpet of a women with a perfect voice." The San Francisco Examiner's reviewer said that "Henrietta Davis was the lustrous standout from Gershwin's grand opera."
Henrietta is equally at ease on the concert stage having performed works within the San Francisco Symphony, the Oakland Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony and the Orlando (Florida) Symphony.
A most sought after church soloist, Henrietta has performed for over 100 congregations across the United States. She is a regular soloist on Dr. Robert Schullar's "Hour of Power" weekly national television ministry and the "Glory of Christmas"
In recognition of her many accomplishments, Henrietta was inducted into the Abraham Lincoln High School Wall of Fame in May 1994.