Edna Alexander was a Canadian-born soprano based in the United States and later Europe. She sang with various theater companies in the United States, including the Afro-American Opera Company, Cole & Johnson, and Williams and Walker Co.
Edna Alexander was a Canadian-born soprano based in the United States and later Europe. She sang with various theater companies in the United States, including the Afro-American Opera Company, Cole & Johnson, and Williams and Walker Co.
Alexander was born in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada, the daughter of George Alexander. When she was young, her family moved to Toledo, Ohio and then Chicago, Illinois. She started out singing as a child in the Quinn Chapel choir in Chicago, and later sang in the choir at Bethel Church. [1] [2]
In 1895 she moved to the East Coast, where she performed as a singer. In 1896 she was part of the Afro-American Opera Company. [3] She was the lead soprano in Cole & Johnson's "A Trip to Coontown", and also performed for the Williams & Walker Company. [4] [5] In 1905, she traveled to Europe as part of a performance, and continued to live there until the end of her life. While abroad, she married "Billy" Farrell who worked in variety shows. [4]
Alexander died from tuberculosis in August 1913 in Vienna, Austria. [4]
Mary Garden was a Scottish-American operatic lyric soprano, then mezzosoprano with a substantial career in France and America in the first third of the 20th century. She spent the latter part of her childhood and youth in the United States and eventually became an American citizen, although she lived in France for many years and eventually retired to Scotland, where she spent the last 30 years of her life and died.
Robert Allen Cole Jr. was an American composer, actor, and playwright who produced and directed stage shows. In collaboration with Billy Johnson, he wrote and produced A Trip to Coontown (1898), the first musical entirely created and owned by black showmen. The popular song La Hoola Boola (1898) was a result of their collaboration. Cole later partnered with brothers J. Rosamond Johnson, a pianist and singer, and James Weldon Johnson, a pianist, guitarist and lawyer, creating more than 200 songs.
Kathleen Deanna Battle is an American operatic soprano known for her distinctive vocal range and tone. Born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performances with major orchestras during the early and mid-1970s. She made her opera debut in 1975. Battle expanded her repertoire into lyric soprano and coloratura soprano roles during the 1980s and early 1990s, until her eventual dismissal from the Metropolitan Opera in 1994. She later has focused on recording and the concert stage. After a 22-year absence from the Met, Battle performed a concert of spirituals at the Metropolitan Opera House in November 2016.
Abriea "Abbie" Mitchell Cook, also billed as Abbey Mitchell, was an American soprano opera singer. She performed the role of Clara in the premiere production of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess in 1935, and was also the first to record "Summertime" from that musical.
Camilla Ella Williams was an American operatic soprano who performed nationally and internationally. After studying with renowned teachers in New York City, she was the first African American to receive a regular contract with a major American opera company, the New York City Opera. She had earlier won honors in vocal competitions and the Marian Anderson Fellowship in 1943–44.
Westminster Choir College (WCC) is a historic conservatory of music currently operating on the campus of Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Rider's College of Arts and Sciences, the college under which the historic institution has been reorganized, consists of Westminster Choir College as well as three additional schools.
The Fisk Jubilee Singers are an African-American a cappella ensemble, consisting of students at Fisk University. The first group was organized in 1871 to tour and raise funds for college. Their early repertoire consisted mostly of traditional spirituals, but included some songs by Stephen Foster. The original group toured along the Underground Railroad path in the United States, as well as performing in England and Europe. Later 19th-century groups also toured in Europe.
Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones was an American soprano. She sometimes was called "The Black Patti" in reference to Italian opera singer Adelina Patti. Jones' repertoire included grand opera, light opera, and popular music. Trained at the Providence Academy of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music, Jones made her New York City debut in 1888 at Steinway Hall, and four years later she performed at the White House for President Benjamin Harrison. She sang for four consecutive presidents and the British royal family, and was met with international success. Besides the United States and the West Indies, Jones toured in South America, Australia, India, southern Africa, and Europe.
Rosa Raisa was a Polish-born and Italian-trained Russian and Jewish operatic dramatic soprano who became a naturalized American. She possessed a voice of remarkable power and was the creator of the title role of Puccini's last opera, Turandot, at La Scala, Milan.
Blanche Thebom was an American operatic mezzo-soprano, voice teacher, and opera director. She was part of the first wave of American opera singers that had highly successful international careers. In her own country she had a long association with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City which lasted 22 years. Opera News stated, "An ambitious beauty with a velvety, even-grained dramatic mezzo, Thebom was a natural for opera: she commanded the stage with the elegantly disciplined hauteur of an old-school diva, relishing the opportunity to play femmes du monde such as Marina in Boris Godunov, Herodias and Dalila."
Eleonora de Cisneros was an American opera singer. She was a singer for the Metropolitan Opera company and became one of their principal singers. She was the first American-trained opera singer hired by the Metropolitan Opera company. During the early twentieth century, she performed at major opera houses in the United States, Cuba, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South America and Russia.
Mattiwilda Dobbs was an American coloratura soprano and was one of the first black singers to enjoy a major international career in opera. She was the first black singer to perform at La Scala in Italy, the first black woman to receive a long-term performance contract and to sing a lead role at the Metropolitan Opera, New York and the first black singer to play a lead role at the San Francisco Opera.
Margaret Harshaw was an American opera singer and voice teacher who sang for 22 consecutive seasons at the Metropolitan Opera from November 1942 to March 1964. She began her career as a mezzo-soprano in the early 1930s but then began performing roles from the soprano repertoire in 1950. She sang a total of 39 roles in 25 works at the Met and was heard in 40 of the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts. She was also active as a guest artist with major opera houses in Europe and North and South America.
Florence Kirk was an American dramatic soprano who had an active international performance career in operas and concerts from 1937 to 1954. Born in Philadelphia and trained at the Curtis Institute of Music by Elisabeth Schumann, she was particularly associated with the roles of Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni and the title heroine in Verdi's Aida. Her repertoire included other Verdi heroines like Leonora and Lady Macbeth, Santuzza from Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, Minnie in Puccini's La fanciulla del West and the title role in Tosca, and several roles from Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle.
Carolina White was an American operatic soprano who had an active performance career during the first three decades of the 20th century. After beginning her career as a concert soprano in Boston in 1905, she went to Europe where she established herself as a leading soprano in Italy and Switzerland, beginning at the Teatro di San Carlo in 1908. After appearing in major opera houses like La Scala and La Fenice, White left Europe in 1910 to join the roster of artists at the Chicago Grand Opera Company where she was a leading soprano through 1914. After this she was active primarily as a concert soprano up through 1922. She made several recordings for Columbia Records during the second decade of the 20th century.
Lydia Yakolevna Lipkowska was a Russian operatic soprano of Ukrainian origin who had an active international career during the first half of the 20th century. A gifted coloratura soprano, she performed leading roles at the Mariinsky Theatre, the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House, La Scala, and the Opéra-Comique among other theaters.
Edyth Walker was an American opera singer who had an active international career from the 1890s through the 1910s. She began her career performing roles from the mezzo-soprano repertory, but later successfully added several soprano parts to her repertoire as well. While she did perform in Italian and French language operas, she had a clear affinity for works in the German language. She particularly excelled in the operas of Richard Wagner. After retiring from the stage, she was active as a voice teacher in both France and the United States. Her voice is preserved on several gramophone recordings, made mainly for His Master's Voice, between 1902-08.
Flora Batson (1864–1906) was a popular and well-known African-American concert singer, nicknamed "The Double-Voiced Queen of Song" because of her soprano-baritone range. She was also called "the colored Jenny Lind" in the press.
A Trip to Coontown is an American musical comedy. It was performed, directed, and produced by African-Americans. It was written and performed in by Bob Cole and Billy Johnson. and debuted it New Jersey in 1897 before touring in the U.S. and internationally. Its New York City debut was at the Third Avenue Theatre on April 4, 1898.