Bill Text: TX SR933 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Enrolled

Texas Senate Resolution 933 (Prior Session Legislation)

Enrolled

Bill Title: In memory of Barbara Smith Conrad.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2017-05-27 - Printed in full [SR933 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-SR933-Enrolled.html


	SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 933


	In Memory
	of
	Barbara Smith Conrad

	WHEREAS, Countless people were inspired by the grace and
	courage of famed mezzo-soprano Barbara Smith Conrad, who died on
	May 22, 2017, at the age of 79; and

	WHEREAS, Raised in the East Texas town of Center Point,
	Barbara Louise Smith excelled in University Interscholastic
	League singing and debate competitions and was recruited by The
	University of Texas at Austin; she enrolled in 1956, the first
	year in which African American undergraduates were admitted; a
	faculty member urged her to audition for the female lead in the
	College of Fine Arts production of the opera Dido and Aeneas;
	when she won the role, segregationists protested her being cast
	opposite a white male, but she persevered despite threatening calls
	and a physical attack; ultimately she was advised by university
	administrators that she could not appear in the production; the
	controversy drew national attention, and superstar Harry
	Belafonte offered to sponsor her studies at any school in the
	country; though shocked and hurt by the injustice, she was
	committed to the integration of the university and chose to
	complete her degree in music; and

	WHEREAS, With assistance from Mr. Belafonte and former
	first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, she moved to New York after
	graduation; because there was already a Barbara Smith in Actor's
	Equity, she adopted her father's first name, Conrad, as part of
	her stage name; although she was passed over for some roles
	because of her race, her career flourished nonetheless, and in
	1977, she played another pioneer, Marian Anderson, in the movie
	Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years; she spent eight
	years with the Metropolitan Opera and performed with other noted
	companies, among them the Vienna State Opera, the New York City
	Opera, and Venezuela's Teatro Nacional; under the direction of
	Lorin Maazel, Leonard Bernstein, and other renowned conductors,
	she sang with many of the world's greatest orchestras, including
	the New York Philharmonic and the London, Boston, Cleveland, and
	Detroit symphonies; she also earned critical acclaim with an
	album of the spirituals she had loved since her youth, and she was
	the cofounder and codirector of the Wagner Theater Program at the
	Manhattan School of Music, as well as an eminent private vocal
	coach; and

	WHEREAS, Barbara Smith Conrad was named a Distinguished
	Alumna of The University of Texas in 1985, and the university
	established the Barbara Smith Conrad Endowed Presidential
	Scholarship in Fine Arts; reconnected to her alma mater, she
	performed and taught master classes, and in 2012, she was
	appointed as a visiting professor and artist-in-residence at the
	Butler School of Music; she spoke at the College of Fine Arts
	commencementceremonythatyearandbecameanartisticadviser
	and ambassador for the American Spirituals Initiative at the
	Dolph Briscoe Center for American History; the center produced a
	biographical documentary, When I Rise: The Story of Barbara Smith
	Conrad, which premiered at the 2010 South by Southwest Film
	Festival and aired nationally on PBS; the film includes her
	deeply moving 2009 performance in the Capitol Rotunda on the
	occasion of her recognition by the Texas Legislature; her myriad
	accolades also include the Texas Medal of Arts Award for Lifetime
	Achievement and the History-Making Texan Award; and

	WHEREAS, The loss of Barbara Smith Conrad is keenly felt by
	The University of Texas community and by all who were privileged
	to share in the richness of her life, but her outstanding
	contributions as an artist and trailblazer will continue to
	resonate in the years to come; now, therefore, be it

	RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 85th
	Legislature, hereby pay tribute to the memory of Barbara Smith
	Conrad and extend sincere condolences to her loved ones; and, be
	it further

	RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared for
	her family and that when the Texas Senate adjourns this day, it do
	so in memory of Barbara Smith Conrad.

	Hughes, Watson



		________________________________
		President of the Senate

		I hereby certify that the
		above Resolution was adopted by
		the Senate on May 27, 2017, by a
		rising vote.



		________________________________
		Secretary of the Senate



		________________________________
		Member, Texas Senate



		________________________________
		Member, Texas Senate