By HOLLY WAGNER
Herald-Whig Staff Writer

Grace Bumbry has been surprising her brother, Ben, since she was teenager.

When he heard that the mezzo-soprano was being honored Sunday at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., "I was flabbergasted," Bumbry said. "I started calling everyone I knew."

Grace Bumbry will receive the Kennedy Center Honors at the 32nd annual national celebration of the arts. Also being honored are writer, composer, actor, director, and producer Mel Brooks; pianist and composer Dave Brubeck; actor, director, and producer Robert De Niro; and singer and songwriter Bruce Springsteen.

Ben Bumbry is looking forward to seeing Grace again, whose home is in Salzburg, Austria, and in meeting the other honorees, especially jazz pianist Brubeck.

A member of a jazz and blues band now, Ben Bumbry had considered himself quite a singer and musician when he was in college. So he was a bit bemused when his mother asked him to accompany his sister to a recital. There were seven years difference in their ages, so he hadn't heard his little sister perform lately.

"I knew she was pretty good," he said, but he wasn't prepared for what he heard. "She can't outsing us," he thought. "But when I first heard her, way back, I could not believe it."

Grace Bumbry has been winning accolades and honors ever since.

Her first prize was a 1950s version of American Idol, a teen talent contest that she won at age 17. Although she got a scholarship to a local music institute in her home town of St. Louis, the institution was segregated. They were willing to admit Grace under special circumstances, but her mother put her foot down. Grace received other scholarship offers, particularly after appearing on the Arthur Godfrey Show.

After a year in Boston, she enrolled at Northwestern University where she met the German dramatic soprano and teacher Lotte Lehmann. She encouraged her to study at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, Calif., in 1958. That sparked a career that has included opera performances all over Europe and appearances for Presidents Kennedy and Reagan at the White House.

In the 1990s, she also founded and toured with the Grace Bumbry Black Musical Heritage Ensemble, a group devoted to preserving and performing traditional Negro spirituals.

Her last operatic appearance was as Klyt & auml;mnestra in Richard Strauss's "Elektra" in Lyon in 1997. She has since devoted herself to teaching and judging international competitions; and to the concert stage, giving a series of recitals in 2001 and 2002 in honor of Lehmann.

In Elizabeth Nash's "Autobiographical Reminiscences of African-American Classical Singers," Grace offered this advice to young singers:

"To strive for excellence, that's the answer. If you strive for excellence, that means that you are determined. You will find a way to get to your goal, even if it means having to turn down some really great offers. You have to live with that, as you have to live with yourself."

Hard work, determination and talent have characterized Grace Bumbry's career. She's come a long way since growing up in St. Louis with two older brothers, and singing with the church choir. Michelle Obama is to host one of the weekend dinners.

"I'm so proud of her," said Ben. "I never would have thought" of this.

-- hwagner@whig.com/221-3374

The Kennedy Center awards will be televised at 8 p.m. Dec. 29 on CBS.