William Warfield Internationally Acclaimed Vocalist

Deep Roots in Rochester, NY

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• Upbringing: His family moved to Rochester in 1925 when he was five years old; his father served as pastor of Mt. Vernon Church.
• Education: A graduate of Washington High School, he won a national competition that granted him a scholarship to the Eastman School of Music, where he earned both his Bachelor’s (1942) and Master’s (1946) degrees.
• Legacy: The William Warfield Scholarship Fund was established at Eastman in 1977 to support talented Black vocalists.
• Final Resting Place: Following his death in Chicago, he was buried in Rochester’s Mt. Hope Cemetery. He was posthumously inducted into the Rochester Music Hall of Fame in 2015.