Portia White
Portia White was a distinguished Canadian contralto operatic singer born in Truro, Nova Scotia, who made significant contributions to both the arts and the civil rights movement in Canada. Born into a large family with deep roots in the Black Loyalist community, White's upbringing was steeped in musical heritage, largely influenced by her parents' roles in the local church. She pursued her education at Dalhousie University and the Halifax Conservatory of Music, where she honed her vocal skills and won multiple awards in music festivals.
White gained acclaim in the 1940s for her powerful voice and captivating performances of both classical and Negro spirituals, with her 1944 recital at New York City's Town Hall marking her international debut. Despite facing racial discrimination, she toured extensively across North America and beyond, striving to promote her artistry until her retirement in the late 1950s. She later dedicated herself to teaching, impacting the lives of many aspiring singers.
Recognized as a person of national historic significance in Canada, White's legacy continues through various honors, including the Portia White Prize, established to support emerging artists. Her life and work have inspired documentaries, exhibitions, and even new operatic compositions, reflecting her enduring influence on both the cultural and civil rights landscapes of Canada. White passed away at fifty-six but remains a celebrated figure in Canadian history.
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Subject Terms
Portia White
Opera singer
- Born: June 24, 1911
- Place of Birth: Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Died: February 13, 1968
- Place of Death: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Education: Dalhousie University, Halifax Conservatory of Music
- Significance: Portia White was a contralto operatic singer from Canada. She was an important figure in the Canadian civil rights movement.
Background
Portia May White was born in the town of Truro in central Nova Scotia, Canada, to William Andrew White and Izie Dora White and was the third of thirteen children. White’s mother descended from Black Loyalists in Nova Scotia, and her father’s parents were former slaves from Virginia. William White graduated from Acadia University in 1903 and was the university’s first Black graduate. The family was greatly involved in the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church, where William White became the minister and Izie White became the musical director. This was a huge inspiration for the young White, who at age six sang in the church’s choir. By the time she was eight years old, she knew the soprano part from Lucia di Lammermoor and was invited to sing on radio broadcasts.
The White family achieved a significant amount of success and notoriety within the area. Her brother, Bill, was Canada’s first Black citizen to run for federal office as a candidate for the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation in 1949. Another brother, Jack, ran for provincial office in Ontario and was the first Black Canadian to run for that office. He was also a leader of the Canadian labor union. White counted among her nieces and nephews playwright George Elliott Clarke, singer Chris White, politician Sheila White, and Senator Donald H. Oliver.
White attended Dalhousie University in 1929 to be trained as a teacher. Following graduation, she worked in various communities throughout Nova Scotia, where she mostly taught Black students. During the 1930s, White took mezzo-soprano voice lessons at the Halifax Conservatory of Music. She competed in the Halifax Music Festival, winning the Kennedy Silver Cup in 1935, 1937, and 1938. After being awarded a scholarship to the Conservatory in 1939, she worked with Italian baritone Ernesto Vinci and began training as a contralto.
Life’s Work
Making her debut in Toronto, White gained regional notice as a Canadian opera singer in 1941 in her formal debut held in the Eaton Auditorium in Toronto. She was known for her choices in music and her performances of both Negro spirituals and classical music from Europe. Many critics were intrigued by her voice and noted the beauty with which she sang and that her talent was a natural, divine-given gift.
White resigned from teaching in 1941 shortly after her Toronto debut performance to tour Canada. Bookings were sometimes difficult to obtain due to racial discrimination. Her career began to flourish following a March 1944 recital at New York City’s Town Hall. She was the first Canadian to perform at that venue, and many considered the event her international debut. The Nova Scotia Talent Trust (NSTT) was created in 1944 to support White’s professional career. In 2016, NSTT was still providing scholarships to pre-professional Nova Scotian artists. White performed at New York’s Town Hall again in 1944 and in 1945 before signing with the record label Columbia Concerts Incorporated, which was the largest label in North America at the time.
White toured throughout North America with Columbia Concerts in 1945. The following year she embarked on a tour of Central and South America but began to have difficulties with her voice. The increased amount of success and a grueling schedule made it difficult for her to perform. She headed to Europe in 1948 and toured France and Switzerland, but not long after that she retired from performing publicly. Moving back to Toronto in 1952, she began studying voice with Irene Jessner and Gina Cigna at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music, previously known as the Toronto Conservatory of Music.
Throughout the early 1950s, White taught voice lessons privately and to young girls at the Toronto school Branksome Hall. Some of her famous students included Robert Goulet, Dinah Christie, Don Francks, Anne Marie Moss, and Lorne Greene. There was a slight rekindling of her professional music career in the mid-1950s, when she would occasionally perform in concert. One of the most noted was an appearance before Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in October 1964 at Charlottetown’s Confederation Centre of the Arts. White’s final public performance was in July 1967 at the World Baptist Federation in Ottawa. She died at age fifty-six from cancer on February 13, 1968.
Impact
Canada named White a "person of national historic significance," and a millennial stamp was created with her image in 1999. Later, a life-sized sculpture was made from a tree near Truro’s Zion Baptist Church. The Nova Scotia Arts Council presents the Portia White Prize each year to an up-and-coming artist. In 1998, the award was given to her great-nephew, George Elliott Clarke. The Nova Scotia Talent Trust also offers a vocal scholarship in her name. In 2007, White was recognized at the East Coast Music Awards and was posthumously awarded the Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award.
Despite never producing any studio recordings of her music, concert recordings during performances in New York and in New Brunswick were made by her family and are available through Canada’s Library and Archives. Several contemporary artists have covered White’s music, including White’s nephew Chris White, on his album First You Dream (1999). The Canadian documentary, Portia White: Think on Me was produced for television in 2001.
"Celebrating Portia White. . . 50 Years On," an exhibit, was held at the Colchester Historeum in Truro, White's hometown, in February 2018. The exhibit was created to commemorate fifty years since White's death. Included in the exhibit were recordings, photographs, portraits, and personal items.
The opera Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White, produced by the Canadian Opera Company, premiered in June 2024. The new opera, conceived by HAUI, a director, librettist, and co-composer, and Sean Mayes, a composer and conductor, had an all-Black cast and creative team. Many of those involved in the opera had worked together on the 2019 musical The Color Purple.
Bibliography
"A Classical Voice from Canada, Portia White." AA Registry. African American Registry, N.d. Web. 23 Aug. 2016.
Gough, Ariel. "Why Portia White Matters 70 Years Later." Peninsula News. University of Kings College, 28 Feb. 2014. Web. 11 June 2016.
Greene, Gael. "White, Portia (1911–968)." Black Past. BlackPast.org v2.0, 2015. Web. 11 June 2016.
"Portia White." Black History Canada. TD Bank, 2016. Web. 11 June 2016.
"Portia White." The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada, 2016. Web. 11 June 2016.
White, Evelyn, C. "A Bit of Magic Dust: Portia White and Portia Clark." Halifax Examiner, 24 June 2024, www.halifaxexaminer.ca/commentary/a-bit-of-magic-dust-portia-white-and-portia-clark/. Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.