Laurence Fishburne, others to honor Jessye Norman at funeral

FILE - This July 4, 2010 file photo shows American opera singer Jessye Norman performing on the Stravinski Hall stage at the 44th Montreux Jazz Festival, in Montreux, Switzerland. Norman died, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital in New York. She was 74. (AP Photo/Keystone/Dominic Favre, File)

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — The public funeral for opera star Jessye Norman has been set for Saturday in Georgia and will feature tributes from actor Laurence Fishburne, civil rights activist Vernon Jordan and Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald.

The funeral will be at the William B. Bell Auditorium in Augusta. A private interment will follow. There are two public viewings — on Thursday and Friday.

Some of the performers and speakers will include musician Wycliffe Gordon, author Michael Eric Dyson, Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis Jr. and the Rev. Dr. James Alexander Forbes Jr.

Elder Raymond Sturkey will deliver the eulogy.

Norman died Sept. 30 at age 74 . She was a trailblazing performer, and one of the rare black singers to attain worldwide stardom in the opera world.