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Part of the American
History & Genealogy Project |
Women in Music
Mrs. Aloysius Louis Apfelbeck
(Marie Louise Bailey) 1876
Was born in Nashville, Tennessee, October 24, 1876. She was the
daughter of Dr. Patrick H. Bailey. She received from the Shah of
Persia, in 1902, the Persian medal for art and science, sharing
with Mme. Modjeska the distinction of being the only women in
the world to receive this honor. She has also a medal for art
from the Court of Coburg, and the honor of "Imperial Chamber
Virtuoso" from Austria, and from the Emperor Francis Joseph, the
Elizabethan medal for Art and Science, and the Golden Order of
Merit of the Cross and Crown. These distinctions have been
rarely conferred upon foreigners. She is the wife of Captain A.
L. Apfelbeck, of the Austrian army.
Ethel Atwood 1870 ~
Miss Atwood was born in Fairfield, Maine, September 12, 1870. Is
a musician of note in orchestral work. In Boston she formed the
Fadette Ladies Orchestra, which was soon in such demand that she
made this her profession. She studied prompting, and is today
considered one of the best prompters, and the only lady prompter
in the United States.
Annie Louise Carey 1842
~ 1921
One of the noted singers produced by America. She was born in
Wayne, Maine, October 22, 1842. Daughter of Dr. Nelson Howard
and Maria Stockbridge Carey. Studied under Lyman Wheeler of
Boston, and Giovanni Corsi, Milan, Italy, making her debut in
Italian opera in Copenhagen. Was afterward a member of the opera
company under Strakosch, singing the principal contralto roles
in grand opera both in America and Europe. In 1882 she married
Charles Monson Raymond, a banker of New York City, and retired
from the stage.
Elida Dickerman Sheppard
1859
Elida Dickerman was one of her pupils. Miss Logan soon
discovered that Elida Dickerman had musical talents of the
highest quality, and was exceedingly proud of the progress of
her young pupil, who so faithfully and indefatigably mastered
every lesson she gave her. She discovered that Elida's voice had
a wide range and if properly trained would win her an enviable
reputation. At the age of thirteen she was taken to New Haven,
Connecticut, to school, and to study music. Here her musical
education was pursued until, as a young lady, she returned to
Southern Illinois to practice her chosen musical profession. As
a teacher, soloist and organist she has ever since been well
known throughout Illinois and the Middle West. She married
Charles A. Sheppard, a merchant of Carbondale.
Since the establishment of the Southern Illinois State Normal
University, in Carbondale, Mrs. Sheppard has had charge of the
musical department of the University.
Julia Elida Dickerman
1859 ~
Julia Elida Dickerman, daughter of Charles E. and Ellen Louise
Dickerman, was born in Carbondale, Illinois, February 21, 1859.
In 1869 Miss Katie Logan, a relation and adopted daughter of
General and Mrs. Logan, who possessed a fine soprano voice which
had been highly cultivated by the best teachers of Philadelphia
and New York, came to Carbondale to reside in General Logan's
family, and at the earnest solicitations of friends, among them
Mr. and Mrs. Dickerman, gave lessons to a few young girls in
vocal and instrumental music.
Geraldine Farrar 1882 ~
1967
Born February 28, 1882, at Melrose, Massachusetts. Is the
daughter of Sydney and Henrietta Barnes Farrar. Musical
education was completed in Paris and Berlin. Made her debut at
the Royal Opera House in Berlin, October 15, 1901, as Marguerite
in Faust Has been a member of the Metropolitan Opera Company
since 1906.
Julie Rive King 1857 ~
Madame Julie Rive King was born October 31, 1857, in Cincinnati.
Her mother, Mrs. Caroline Rive, was a cultured musician and
pianist, being a teacher of these arts. At quite an early age,
Julie became a remarkable piano player, appearing in concerts.
After studying in New York she returned to her home and created
great excitement by her remarkable performances as an artist. In
1873 she went to Europe to study under Liszt, appearing in
public in Leipsic and other cities, where the musical world
ranked her among the great pianists of the day. She won a
brilliant triumph in all the great cities of Europe. Owing to
the sudden death of her father, who was killed in a railway
accident, she returned to the United States and very soon after
this married Frank H. King. She made a tour of this country in
concert, establishing her reputation as the greatest pianist in
the United States at that time. In 1884, owing to failure in
health she retired from the concert stage and devoted her life
to teaching.
Mme. Selma Kronold
Was born in Cracow, Poland. Received her musical education at
the Royal Conservatory of Music in Leipsic, where she won the
Mendelssohn prize, and at the age of seventeen was engaged by
Anton Seidl to sing Wagnerian roles. Is a grand opera singer of
note both in Europe and America. In 1904 she retired from the
stage and organized and founded the Catholic Oratoria Society
and is today a director of this society and of the free vocal
classes for men and women in connection with it.
Margaret Ruthven Lang
1867 ~ 1972
Born in Boston, November 27, 1867. Daughter of Benjamin Johnston
Lang and Frances Morse Burrage Lang. Was a student of the violin
under Louis Schmidt, Drechsler and Abel of Munich; Composition,
with Victor Gluth of Munich; Orchestration under Chadwick of
Boston and Macdowell. Is a composer of music for the pianoforte,
solos, songs, choruses and orchestral works. Her work, "Dramatic
Overture," has been performed by the Boston Symphony
Orchestra, and her "Witichis" was performed several
times in Chicago under the leadership of Theodore Thomas. She is
one of the most prominent musical composers of America.
Dorothea Rhodes Lummis
1860 ~ 1942
Was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, November, 1860. Her father was
Josiah H. Rhodes, of Pennsylvania Dutch stock, and her mother,
Sarah Crosby Swift was descended from a New England Puritan
family. Although a successful student of music in the New
England Conservatory of Music, in Boston, in 1881, she entered
the musical school of Boston University and graduated with honor
in 1884. In 1880 she married Charles F. Lummis, and in 1885
removed to Los Angeles, California, where she began the practice
of medicine. She has served as dramatic editor of the Los
Angeles Times and also musical editor and critic on that
journal. She was instrumental in the formation of a humane
society which was brought about through her observations of the
neglect and cruelty to the children of the poor, and Mexican
families, visited in her practice. She is a writer for Puck,
Judge, Life, Women's Cycle, San Francisco Argonaut, and the
Californian, as well as contributing many important papers to
the various medical journals of the United States.
Emma Wixon Nevada 1895
~ 1940
Born in 1861, in Nevada City, California. Her maiden name was
Emma Wixon, and in private life she is known as Mrs. Palmer. Her
stage name was taken from her native town. She received her
education in the schools of Oakland, and San Francisco,
California, and Austin, Texas. In 1877 she went to Europe to
study for the operatic stage. In 1880 she accepted an offer from
Colonel Mapleson, to sing in Italian Opera and made her debut in
"La Sonambula" in London, England, and was at once ranked with
the queens of the operatic stage and recognized as a star of the
first magnitude. She repeated her triumphs in Paris and in a
tour in the United States also in Portugal, Spain, and a most
successful season in Italy.
Jessamine Polak
(Baroness Von Elsner.) 1869 ~
Was born at Burlington, Iowa, in 1869. Daughter of Baron Hugo
Bongenalav von Eisner, member of an ancient, noble family of
Silesia, and Amanda Kate Dimmett, whose family was among the
early settlers of Bloomington, Illinois. Baroness Von Eisner has
been a concert singer both in this country and in Europe.
Caroline Keating Reed
Born in Nashville, Tenn. Is the daughter of Colonel J. M.
Keating, a newspaper man of prominence in that city; was a pupil
of Emile Levy; studied in New York under S. B. Mills and Madame
Carreno; took lessons from Mrs. Agnes Morgan and subsequently
from Richard Hoffman and Joseffy; is a successful teacher of
music in Memphis; always giving free lessons to one or two
pupils, as her contribution to charity and the advancement and
aid of her own sex; has written a primer on technique for
beginners.
Marie Van Zandt 1861 ~
1919
Born in Texas, October 8, 1861. Daughter of Mrs. Jennie Van
Zandt, the well-known singer, whose father was Signor Antonio
Blitz. Miss Van Zandt was trained by her mother, as she had
early displayed strong musical tendencies. In 1873 she and her
mother went to London, where she studied. Adelina Patti took a
personal interest in her training. Later she studied in Milan,
Italy, and made her operatic debut in Turin in 1879. In 1880 she
appeared in London in Her Majesty's Opera Company, winning
success. In 1881 she appeared in Paris in the Opera Comique in "Mignon''
and sang there for four seasons. She sang in many of the
principal cities of Europe, enjoying a pronounced musical
success in her own country and was ranked as one of the foremost
sopranos of her time. Miss Van Zandt married Petrovich
Tzcherinoff in 1898, and has now retired from the stage.
Women of
America
Source: The Part Taken by Women in
American History, By Mrs. John A. Logan, Published by The Perry-Nalle
Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1912.
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