Famous soprano Beverly Sills recounts life, lessons she learned

Beverly Sills, 73, the noted operatic soprano who has appeared on stage in more than 70 roles spoke at 3:30 p.m. Friday in Auer Hall. The IU Foundation sponsored her visit. Sills will also attend the third annual presentation of the Herman B Wells Visionaries Awards, given at a dinner later Friday evening.\nGwyn Richards, dean of the IU School of Music, introduced Sills to a crowd of roughly 250 people by calling her "a cultural icon and national treasure." He then spoke for a few minutes repeating what he told the IDS earlier last week when he said he felt it was ironic that Sills would speak at IU on the same day "Julius Caesar" would open at the IU Opera, a work important to Sills' career. So important that following her opening night of "Julius Caesar" in 1967 with the New York City Opera, Sills received invitations to then appear at many of the world's most well-regarded opera venues, including La Scala and Covent Garden.\nSills entered the stage dressed in a black, loose-fitting dress and proceeded to speak about her career from its beginning to her current title as Chairwoman of the Metropolitan Opera. Sills spoke for 55 minutes and talked about fond memories of her mother's efforts in fighting against her father for Sill's right to enter a music career, which began on popular radio children's shows like "Major Bowes Amateur Hour," whose number of listeners was second only to those of dead-pan master Jack Benny. After recording her first singing radio commercial for a laundry detergent, Sills said her mother hoped she would surpass Shirley Temple.\nJames Patterson, a professor in the Kelley School of Business who enjoys the opera and listens to it for relaxation, said he thought she was humorous.\n"I thought she brought in some nice family ties and pleasant memories," he said.\nSills, who may have been the highest paid opera singer in the world, spoke seriously of her multi-decade career as an opera diva. She mentioned an incident where on a radio show as a little girl she said she wanted a sled for Christmas. Within a week, she had over 60 of them sent to her by listeners. In another anecdote about her mother and father, Sills recounted an incident when her mother got a piano. When her father asked what it was, Sills' mother came back with: "Don't worry, it's something to put your ash tray on."\n"I very much enjoyed the lecture by Ms. Sills," IUB Chancellor Sharon Brehm said. "She is a warm and engaging speaker, and tells wonderful stories about her life and times. She is also an inspiring role model for all of us, though perhaps particularly for women. Her drive, determination, talent and great sense of humor obviously all contributed to her enormous success."\nFollowing the conclusion of Sills' talk, she invited the audience to ask questions. Sills' final comment during the question session was "Don't be taken in by other people's opinions…be true to yourself"