An Opera Star and the National Negro Opera House

Acclaimed opera singer Denyce Graves on Cooking with Denyce. — Acclaimed opera singer Denyce Graves on *Cooking with Denyce*.

“I can do something. In fact, I can do a lot.”

This is one of the biggest reasons critically-acclaimed opera singer Denyce Graves, known for her fiery performances in George Bizet’s Carmen and Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida, has chosen to focus her non-profit, the Denyce Graves Foundation, dedicated to breaking “down barriers to success for exceptionally talented singers of all backgrounds,” on raising awareness and telling the story of the National Negro Opera House and its founding director, Mary Cardwell Dawson.

The National Negro Opera Company (NNOC), located in Homewood, was founded in 1941. It was a home for artists, musicians, and more, serving as a cultural touchpoint for Pittsburgh’s Black community. Mary Cardwell Dawson was at the helm of the house, giving Black artists, students, and composers a voice.

Today, this historic opera house is on the brink of extinction.

Recently, a team of “dedicated advocates” has come together in an “effort to restore, protect and preserve this monumental heritage, reclaiming its original beauty and purpose.” Once finished, the space will serve as an audio museum and rental space.

“My foundation, the Denyce Graves Foundation, is 100% committed to using the energy and connections we have to raise awareness and keep in the public consciousness Mary Cardwell Dawson and NNOC until her story is firmly etched in American history as it should be, which lifts the NNOC project closer and closer to fruition,” Graves says.

“Because of renewed efforts to revive [Dawson’s] legacy and restore the NNOC, from what I've learned so far, I'm in, all the way in, I’m with her!” Graves added. The opera house recently received a major donation from the Richard King Mellon Foundation to help the revival efforts and is backed by the Pittsburgh Opera, serving as the NNOC House’s fiscal sponsor for the renovation.

In line with the announcement of her foundation, Graves kicked off the second season of her show, Cooking with Denyce, in Pittsburgh.

During the pandemic, Cooking with Denyce was used as a way for Graves to bring her industry friends together to cook – with a twist of opera. Now, the show, originally intended to bring entertainment and food to opera lovers, has quickly become a base for Graves to introduce the work she and her team plan to complete for the National Opera House.

Graves has high hopes for the future of the building, saying she’d love to see the building serve as a place where students from historically Black colleges and universities can have a stage to start their careers.

“I can imagine NNOC being an engine of musical training, again, for young underserved youth. I can foresee the Mary Cardwell Dawson and NNOC Cultural Center and Grounds being a place where partnerships with The Library of Congress & Smithsonian Institution's Museum of African American History and Culture work together, lifting and elevating other Black women hidden figures as a research space.”

“I can dream of [the center] being a place where freshly minted young Black MBAs in arts management come for internships that help them learn the skills that ready them to compete for leadership roles in arts institutions worldwide. My hopes for this historic place are broad and varied, almost limitless,” she concludes.

To donate to the National Opera House and keep the vision of Mary Cardwell Dawson alive, visit nationaloperahouse.org.