What is Portia White?
[[File:Portia White.jpg|thumb|200px|White in 1946]] '''Portia May White''' (June 24, 1911 – February 13, 1968) was a [[Canadians|Canadian]] [[contralto]]. She is known for becoming the first [[black Canadian]] concert singer to gain international fame. She trained at the [[Halifax Conservatory of Music]]. She also taught young musicians such as [[Lorne Greene]], [[Dinah Christie]], [[Don Francks]], [[Robert Goulet]] and [[Anne Marie Moss]]. She performed a special [[Royal Command Performance|command performance]] for [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]] and [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Prince Philip]] in 1964. Her final public appearance was in [[Ottawa]] during July 1967. White was born in [[Truro, Nova Scotia]]. Her mother was a [[descendant]] of [[Black Loyalist]]s in [[Nova Scotia]]. Her father, [[William A. White]], was the son of former [[Slavery|slaves]] in [[Virginia]]. On February 13, 1968, White died of [[breast cancer]] in [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]]. She was 56.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jaywhite.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/PWDailyNews2001.pdf|title=A Nova Scotia phenomenon|author=White, Jay|work=The Daily News|date=March 25, 2001|access-date=June 12, 2020}}</ref> ==References== {{commonscat}} {{reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:White, Portia}} [[Category:1911 births]] [[Category:1968 deaths]] [[Category:Canadian singers]] [[Category:Cancer deaths in Ontario]] [[Category:Contraltos]] [[Category:Deaths from breast cancer]] [[Category:Entertainers from Nova Scotia]] {{Bio-stub}} {{authority control}}