My mother came to Greenville, SC in the late 1950s, at the invitation of Dupre Rhame, to become a music faculty member of Furman University. For many years she sang solos in various musical productions: operas, oratorios, and the like. She had a rich contralto voice and amazing breath support (I have never heard someone who could sustain a musical phrase so beautifully for such a duration as could she).
This is her singing “Behold a Virgin shall conceive” and ”O Thou that tellest good tidings to Zion” from Handel’s Messiah in December of 1965 with the Furman University Orchestra and Chorus.
I have always loved her voice. I can’t hear anyone but her sing these solos.