Cynthia Haymon-Coleman (born September 6, 1958, inJacksonville, Florida) is an Americansoprano. She is known for the beauty of her voice and seeming ease with which she uses it, and more recently as a voice teacher. She received a bachelor's degree of music in vocal performance fromNorthwestern University. In 2016, she retired from the faculty at theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and presently teaches privately from her studio in Champaign, Illinois.
Her operatic roles include Bess inPorgy and Bess, Liù inTurandot, Mimì inLa bohème, Poppea inL'incoronazione di Poppea, Micaela inCarmen, Pamina inThe Magic Flute, Lauretta inGianni Schicchi, and Susanna inThe Marriage of Figaro.
She gave the world premiere ofJohn Williams' "Seven for Luck" with theBoston Symphony Orchestra, a piece for soprano and orchestra based on the texts ofRita Dove.
She was nominated for aGrammy Award for her performance as Bess,[1] which she sang in the 1986Glyndebourne production, the 1989album made from that production, and the 1993 television production of the work.
