Joyce Mathis
"A Voice from Heaven"
Her Education
Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Ezra and Nellie Mathis, Joyce Mathis graduated from the Howard School of Academics and Technology in 1961. After studying singing in her native city with J. Oscar Miller, she earned a bachelor's degree in vocal performance from Central State University in 1965. She then pursued graduate studies at the Juilliard School where she was a pupil of Florence Kimball, the teacher of Leontyne Price. Price mentored Mathis in the early part of her career.
Many Awards
She was the recipient of the African American Musicians Award (1960), the Young Concert Artists Auditions (in 1968, making her local recital debut at Carnegie Recital Hall), and received the Marian Anderson Award (1987). She appeared in the American Airlines presentation, American Youth Perform, and won the International Bach Festival award to study with renowned pianist and harpsichordist, Rosalyn Tureck. Under the tutelage of acclaimed soprano Leontyne Price, she said of Mathis, “I’m sure we will hear a lot more from her.”
