Homegoing Service For International Opera Star Jessye Norman Set With 4-Day Weeklong Services And Celebrations

The family of international opera star Jessye Norman announces today through the family spokesperson, Gwendolyn Quinn, the Homegoing Service, and the weeklong services and celebrations. The funeral is set for Saturday, October 12, 2019, at the William B. Bell Auditorium, 712 Telfair Street, Augusta, GA, doors open and seating begins at 12:00 p.m. (there will be a private interment). The four-day, weeklong events start on Thursday, October 10, and runs through Sunday, October 13, 2019, in Augusta, GA. (see full schedule below). In November 2019, there will be a celebration of life event, scheduled in New York City.

The lineup of distinguished performers and speakers will include longtime friend and civil rights activist Vernon Jordan, Michael Eric Dyson, Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, and Mayor Hardie Davis, Jr., and Augusta's natives Laurence Fishburne and Wycliffe Gordon, with musical tributes by six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, Harolyn Blackwell, and Lawrence Brownlee, and other confirmations expected this week. Musical direction by Damien Sneed, a longtime friend and Augusta native.

Elder Raymond Sturkey will deliver the eulogy, and Reverend Dr. Clyde Hill, Sr. of Mt. Calvary Baptist Church will officiate the homegoing service, which will include family, friends, dignitaries and special guests, and seating will be available to the public.

There are two public viewings scheduled for Norman on Thursday, October 10, from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Friday, October 11, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, 1260 Wrightsboro Road, Augusta, GA 30901.

On Friday, October 11, the City of Augusta will present the Honorary Street Naming Ceremony to Norman's family, which is scheduled from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Jessye Norman School of the Arts, 739 Green Street, Augusta, GA 30901.

The weeklong celebration will conclude on Sunday, October 13. The Jessye Norman School of the Arts will present its Annual Benefit Concert: "An Evening with Audra McDonald" at the Miller Theater, 708 Broad Street, Augusta, GA, at 4:00 p.m.

Ms. Norman, 74, passed away Monday, September 30, 2019, at Mount Sinai St. Luke's Hospital in New York, NY, surrounded by loved ones.