Lucretia Anderson West

1922 - 2022

WEST, Lucretia Anderson, November 13, 1922 to February 21, 2022.

Lucretia West, 99, departed this life February 21, 2022, peacefully at the Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. Lucretia was the eldest child born to Winston and Lucy Thompson Anderson on November 13, 1922 in Spotsylvania, Virginia on the family homestead and was raised in Washington, DC. She attended public schools in Washington DC and later studied at Howard University before moving to Switzerland to begin her career in music.

Lucretia had one sibling Inez Anderson Coleman whom she loved dearly. Lucretia joined in holy matrimony to Harry West in he early 1940s.

In 1951, Lucretia was one of the first recipients of a grant from the John Hay Whitney Foundation, named for the former U.S. ambassador to England, philanthropist and publisher of The New York Herald Tribune. The foundation awarded $3,000 grants, which in 2015 dollars translates to $27,000, to 53 people who ""because of arbitrary barriers such as race, cultural background or region of residence have not had the fullest opportunity to develop their abilities. Lucretia then trained in Belgium and Switzerland. She returned to the United States in 1957 to briefly join the New York City Opera Company. She returned to Europe a few months later where she remained for the length of her career.

Lucretia's career spanned 70 years where she performed and taught music in Switzerland and Germany. She had dual citizenship of which she was very proud. Lucretia's voice fit within mezzo-soprano and contralto, the deepest voice range for women. Germans typically translated operas and classical songs written in other languages instead of providing a written translation - which is more common for American audiences - so achieving near-perfect diction was important to Lucretia. Her recordings include works of Brahms, Gustav Mahler, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, Jacques Offenbach and Claudio Monteverdi. But there was one thing the Germans often requested: spirituals. One of her favorites was ""Every time I feel the Spirit I will pray"" which she sang beautifully.

Her performance career spanned Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia and the occasional tour back in the United States, prompting the Los Angeles Sentinel to remark in 1957 that West, ""during recent years, has become famous in the leading opera houses and concert halls abroad, but ... is still comparatively unknown in her own country.""

Later that year she had her Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Dmitri Mitropoulos. The New York Times review called her a ""mature artist of imagination and sensitivity.""

Lucretia often recounted the stories of her life in Europe with a hint of mischief in her expression because she enjoyed leaping the hurdle her audiences dared her to jump. Dressed in elaborate and elegant American gowns, West commanded the stage. ""I never had any feeling of inferiority with the Germans,"" West said with a smile. ""I knew that I was superior to everyone anyway.""

Marian Anderson, the famed opera singer who sang for a crowd of 75,000 in
front of the Lincoln Memorial after being denied a prestigious opera hall stage because of her race, was 25 years West's senior and one review dubbed her Anderson reincarnate.

After Lucretia retired from performing, she taught voice in Germany and lived there until 2008 at which time she moved back to the United States to take care of her ailing sister. Upon her return, Lucretia stated that being in the US was a culture shock after being gone for much of her life. She maintained contact with her German friends and former students after her return to the United States.

Lucretia was preceded in death by her husband, Harry West; parents, Lucy Thompson Anderson and Winston Anderson. She was also preceded in death by her only sibling, younger sister, Inez Anderson Coleman. She leaves to cherish her memory, loving cousins, friends and fans.

"We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." - 2nd Corinthians 5:8