Jessye Norman, opera icon, memorialised at hometown funeral

Jessye Norman's illustrious opera career and extraordinary artistry was honoured at her public funeral. So was Jessye Norman the loyal friend, the humanitarian, the teacher and the person not only celebrated for her golden voice, but for her heart of gold.

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Several speakers at Saturday's four-hour service, from family members to close friends to former colleagues, recalled intimate dinners Norman held at her home - one friend called her cooking "immaculate" - while others told stories about Jessye Norman, the goddess and diva who essentially walked on air.

The combined glee clubs perform during funeral services for opera star Jessye Norman.

Norman also was recognized as a black pioneer in the arts world who was proud of her Georgia roots and spoke publicly about the challenges she faced in career and called out racism.

The funeral took place in Norman's hometown of Augusta at the William B. Bell Auditorium.

Laurence Fishburne, the Emmy- and Tony-winning actor who was born in Augusta, told the attendees as a struggling young actor looking for inspiration, he looked at photos of great artists, from Miles Davis to Zora Neale Hurston to Duke Ellington to Norman.

Norman's sister, Elaine Sturkey, and brother, James Howard Norman, speak during the funeral services.

 "So I am here at the request of Jessye's family to grieve with you, to say thank you to God for sharing her with us and the world, to celebrate her life, her good words, her accomplishments, and to praise her for using her talents, her gift, her compassion, her intellect to lift all of us up a little higher."

Norman died Sept. 30 at age 74. The trailblazing performer was one of the rare black singers to attain worldwide stardom in the opera world and her passionate soprano voice won her four Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts and the Kennedy Center Honour.

Several people spoke passionately onstage as they remembered Norman and honoured her life.

A horse-drawn hearse containing the body of opera star Jessye Norman passes by the Bell Auditorium.

Georgetown University sociologist and author Michael Eric Dyson proudly said: "(Jessye) was black girl magic before the term ever existed.

Before there was Oprah and before there was Beyoncé and before there was Michelle Obama, there was Jessye Norman."

Clive Gillinson, the executive and artistic director of New York's Carnegie Hall - where Norman was on the board - called the icon "one of the greatest singers who ever lived, not just of our day"; Norman's goddaughter, Lydia Saylor, recalled stories of Norman giving her vocal lessons and said her godmother gave her her first job out of college; and Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis Jr. May told the attendees, "May we in the city of Augusta take this day and forever allow it to make us better because of the life of one Augusta daughter."

Singer Audra McDonald performs during funeral services for opera star Jessye Norman in Augusta.

Other speakers included civil rights activist Vernon Jordan, childhood friends and Norman's brother, nephew, goddaughter and niece-in-law.

Performers included Metropolitan Opera mezzo soprano J'Nai Bridges, jazz trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, musical director and arranger Damien Sneed and the glee clubs at Morehouse College and Spelman College.

Students of the Jessye Norman School of the Arts, which Norman founded in 2003 in Augusta to provide a free fine arts education to disadvantaged children, sang Paul Simon's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" at the service, which was livestreamed.

Actor and Augusta native Laurence Fishburne talks about opera star Jessye Norman during funeral services.

Norman was a wide-ranging performer who knew no limits. She sang at such revered houses as La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera, performing title roles in works like "Carmen," ?Aida" and more.

In an interview she profoundly said, "Pigeonholing is only interesting to pigeons."

Norman was born on September 15, 1945, in Augusta in segregationist times. She studied at Howard University, the Peabody Conservatory and the University of Michigan.

Musician Wycliffe Gordon performs during funeral services for opera star Jessye Norman.

She made her operatic debut in 1969 in Berlin, wowing audiences on stages in Milan, London and New York thanks to her shining vocals, no matter the language.

The New York Times described her voice as "a grand mansion of sound."

Agence France-Presse