Annabelle Bernard
(1935-2005)
Annabelle Bernard was a young lady who never imagined she would one day become a shining star in the international world of opera.
She was one of several children born to Thomas and Clothilde Bernard. She lived with her family at 2120 Gravier Street and began singing publicly at her school, Fisk Elementary as well as Fourth Baptist Church in New Orleans. She enrolled at McDonogh #35 High School and received her first vocal training in an opera workshop led by Mr. Edwin Hogan, her music teacher.
Edwin Hogan, a pianist and Xavier graduate, recognized Annabelle’s talents and obtained an audition for her with Sister Mary Elise Sisson. Sister was so impressed that she recommended Annabelle for a four year scholarship to Xavier.
“The Magic Flute” (1954- Xavier’s Gymnasium)
Annabell Bernard and Leo Frazier
I Pagliacci (1955- Xavier’s Gymnasium)
Opera cast: ( Seated, left to right ) Barbara Burgess, Annabelle Bernard, Wilma Greenlee, and LaVergne Monette.
(Standing, left to right) Audrey Richards, John Anderson, Clarence Phoenix, Joseph Mackey, and Leo Frazier.
For the next four years (1952-1956) Miss Bernard sang in various operas and concerts on campus. One day, Sister Elise introduced her to a colleague from the New York Metropolitan Opera House. Upon hearing her sing he said, “I think you have a Mozart voice. Annabelle, where did that come from?”
Under the strict tutelage of Sister Mary Elise and the attention she attracted from Mrs. Edith Stern, a prominent New Orleans Arts patron, Annabelle won a full scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston where she received the Eleanor Steber Award and the prestigious Frank Huntington Beebe Scholarship. Both enabled her to study abroad after receiving her master’s degree from the conservatory in 1958.
Finally, Annabelle headed to Europe to study music, and within a few years she was asked to join Deutsche Oper Berlin—the Berlin Opera. She made her debut as Aida, a role she had first sung at Xavier.
For the next forty years, Miss Bernard remained in Berlin, singing in roles such as the title parts in “Aida” and “Madame Butterfly,” “II Trovadore,” Mozart’s “Cosi Van Tutte, and Tchaikovsky “Eugene Onegin.” In 1970, she even received the title Kammersangerin, a West German honor awarded to few singers. She also taught at the Hamburg Conservatory of Music’s voice class in 1972.
Over the years, she sang for celebrated conductors throughout Europe, performed for Pope Paul VI at the Vatican and appeared at the Kennedy Center in Washington and Carnegie Hall in New York. After her Carnegie Hall appearance, The New York Post wrote, “Bernard has a creamy beautiful voice, easily produced and like an angel’s…why she has not sung here before is mind-boggling.”
Ms. Bernard’s fame did not go unnoticed in the United States. In 1962, she appeared on the cover of Jet Magazine and was hailed as the “newest Negro opera star.” In 1976, she broke racial barriers when she became the first black singer to perform in a starring role in “Andrea Chenier” with the New Orleans Opera Association.
Annabelle often said that her success would not have been possible without Sister Elise. “No university had as many operas as Xavier and none of us could ever tell Sister Elise ‘I can’t’
After retiring from the Berlin Opera, Annabelle decided to return home to her roots. She came back to New Orleans, as she said, where she received an abundance of support; mentally, vocally, financially, and spiritually. “I came back because New Orleans is my home and Xavier is my school,” she said in 1999. “Without them I would not have had the foundation for my future life.”
She taught voice and German diction as an artist/ scholar in residence but also found it necessary to teach her students professionalism, discipline, and optimism.
Annabelle Bernard, a New Orleans-born and trained soprano who had a nearly 40- year operatic career, primarily in Europe, died Saturday, January 29, 2005 at Ochsner Hospital.
Survivors include her husband, tenor Karl-Ernst Mercker (although she never used her married name professionally) a brother, Alfred Bernard; and two sisters, Judge Joan Bernard and Florence Bernard James. She was interred in St. Louis Cemetery #3.
Sources: Amistad Research Center, (located on Tulane University’s campus) The Annabelle Bernard Papers (Box #5); Xavier University Archives & Special Collection (photos & video); The Times-Picayune, obituary of February 2, 2005 & November 19, 1976; Gambit Weekly 2002 “Singing Praises” www.bestofneworleans.com.
Lolita Villavasso Cherrie
Amazing and uplifting to read!
This is very telling about the United States, that she had to go to Europe to achieve greatness in her field. The United States is a very sad place!
Beautiful!! Yet so sad, having to leave home to succeed !
Although Annabelle Bernard and I were at Mc Donogh #35 and Xavier University at the same time, I didn’t get to know her very well because she was in music and I was in Elementary Education. I did get to see Aida at Xavier. I had never seen anything so beautiful or heard such a beautiful singing voice like Annabelle’s.The up-side of her story is that she was discovered in New Orleans and was trained by the best and was able to go anywhere in the world with her talent.
I remember my mother mentioning Ms. Bernard. My mother is in the picture seated next to Ms. Bernard in the picture of the Xavier opera.
It’s great to read about her life as a great singer. May she rest in peace.
It was wonderful to read the tributes to Sister Mary Elise and to remember her extraordinary work as founder of the Music Department at Xavier. She mentored me when I was an undergraduate student majoring in piano (1957-63), and I had the honor of serving as rehearsal pianist for the opera productions. I also accompanied Debria Brown, LaVergne Monette and other singers in solo recitals and music events.
Sister Elise was a champion not only of opera, but she dedicated her life to providing opportunities for African-American artists to be heard and recognized.
She was born on October 11, 1934 in New Orleans.
The 1935 birth year (never including the day or month) has unfortunately been published several times on the web.