The amazing Audra McDonald will lead the homecoming service this weekend in Augusta, Georgia for the late, great Jessye Norman. Others participating include Laurence Fishburne, Vernon Jordan, and my friend Michael Eric Dyson (whom I met through Aretha Franklin. Aretha and Jessye are singing up a storm in heaven!)
This is the home of James Brown. Can you imagine what that’s going to be like? Wow!
Here’s the info. BTW the family asks for donations to Jessye Norman’s foundation click here.
The family of international opera star Jessye Norman announces today through the family spokesperson, Gwendolyn Quinn, the Homegoing Service, and the weeklong services and celebrations. The funeral is set for Saturday, October 12, 2019, at the William B. Bell Auditorium, 712 Telfair Street, Augusta, GA, doors open and seating begins at 12:00 p.m. (there will be a private interment). The four-day, weeklong events start on Thursday, October 10, and runs through Sunday, October 13, 2019, in Augusta, GA. (see full schedule below). In November 2019, there will be a celebration of life event, scheduled in New York City.
The lineup of distinguished performers and speakers will include longtime friend and civil rights activist Vernon Jordan, Michael Eric Dyson, and Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, and Mayor Hardie Davis, Jr., and Augusta’s natives Laurence Fishburne and Wycliffe Gordon, with musical tributes by six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, Harolyn Blackwell, and Lawrence Brownlee, and other confirmations expected this week. Musical direction by Damien Sneed, a longtime friend and Augusta native.
Elder Raymond Sturkey will deliver the eulogy, and Reverend Dr. Clyde Hill, Sr. of Mt. Calvary Baptist Church will officiate the homegoing service, which will include family, friends, dignitaries and special guests, and seating will be available to the public.
There are two public viewings scheduled for Norman on Thursday, October 10, from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Friday, October 11, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, 1260 Wrightsboro Road, Augusta, GA 30901.
On Friday, October 11, the City of Augusta will present the Honorary Street Naming Ceremony to Norman’s family, which is scheduled from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Jessye Norman School of the Arts, 739 Green Street, Augusta, GA 30901.
The weeklong celebration will conclude on Sunday, October 13. The Jessye Norman School of the Arts will present its Annual Benefit Concert: “An Evening with Audra McDonald” at the Miller Theater, 708 Broad Street, Augusta, GA, at 4:00 p.m.
Ms. Norman, 74, passed away Monday, September 30, 2019, at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital in New York, NY, surrounded by loved ones.
Jessye Norman’s Homecoming Service, Public Viewing and Celebration Services
Date:
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Time:
10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Event:
Jessye Norman’s Public Viewing
Location:
Mt. Calvary Baptist Church
1260 Wrightsboro Road
Augusta, GA 30901
***
Date:
Friday, October 11, 2019
Time:
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Event:
Jessye Norman’s Public Viewing
Location:
Mt. Calvary Baptist Church
1260 Wrightsboro Road,
Augusta, GA 30901
***
Date:
Friday, October 11, 2019
Time:
4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Event:
Honorary Street Naming Ceremony to Jessye Norman Boulevard
Location:
Jessye Norman School of the Arts (JNSA)
739 Green Street
Augusta, GA 30901
*Followed by a reception in the Ann and Ellis Johnson Gallery of Art (at JNSA)
***
Date:
Saturday, October 12, 2019
Time:
1:00 p.m.
Event:
Jessye Norman’s Homecoming Service
Location:
The William B. Bell Auditorium
712 Telfair Street
Augusta, GA 30901
*Doors open and seating will begin at 12:00 p.m.
***
Date:
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Time:
4:00 p.m.
Event:
The Jessye Norman School of the Arts’ Annual Benefit Concert: “An Evening with Audra McDonald”
Location:
Miller Theater
708 Broad Street (Downtown Augusta)
Augusta, GA 30901
Flowers:
J. Norman Funeral Service
c/o Williams Funeral Home
2945 Old Tobacco Road
Hephzibah, GA 30815
*Please direct resolutions and/or proclamations, cards, and condolences to the Jessye Norman School of the Arts, 739 Green Street, Augusta, GA 30901 to be read at the service and/or provided to the family.
*In lieu of flowers, foundation endowment gifts in honor of Jessye Norman can be made at www.jessyenormanschool.org.
*Donations may be sent to the Jessye Norman School of the Arts, 739 Green Street, Augusta, GA 30901.
