Margaret Price

Dame Margaret Berenice Price (13 April 1941 – 28 January 2011) was a Welsh soprano. Price was born in Blackwood, near Caerphilly in South Wales. Born with deformed legs, she underwent surgery at age four and suffered pain in her legs for the rest of her life. She often looked after her younger brother John, who was born with a mental handicap. The family had ties in Cardigan and north Pembrokeshire and often spent their summer holiday in Moylgrove. Her father, a talented amateur pianist, was opposed to a musical career, and hence she never attended an eisteddfod and was aiming for a career as a biology teacher. She was educated at Pontllanfraith Secondary School, near Caerphilly. When she was 15, her school music teacher organised an audition with Charles Kennedy Scott, who persuaded her to study with him at Trinity College of Music in London and obtained a scholarship for her. Over the next few years Price trained as a mezzo-soprano. After graduation, she joined the Ambrosian Singe...