Adelaide Gescheidt
Adelaide Gescheidt | |
|---|---|
 Adelaide Gescheidt, from a 1922 publication | |
| Born | Mary Adelaide Gescheidt February 16, 1877 Mount Vernon, New York |
| Died | September 18, 1946 (aged 69) New York City |
| Occupation(s) | Voice teacher, clubwoman |
Mary Adelaide Gescheidt (February 16, 1877 – September 18, 1946) was an American voice teacher, writer, and clubwoman, based in New York City.
Early life
[edit]Gescheidt was born in Mount Vernon, New York, the daughter of Albert F. Gescheidt and Mary Steurer Gescheidt.[1] Her father was a businessman; all her grandparents were born in Germany.
Career
[edit]Gescheidt was a concert and church soprano in the early 20th century.[2] She studied singing with John Dennis Mehan[3] and Bruno Huhn.[4] The composer and pianist Edith Haines Kuester was her piano teacher and vocal coach.[5] In 1907-1908 she was the paid resident soprano soloist at Willis Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church in the Bronx.[6] In 1910 she performed Haines Kuester's song cycle In Helena's Garden (words by Richard Watson Gilder) in a concert performed at Crouse College during the convention of the New York State Music Teachers Association with the composer as her accompanist.[7]
Gescheidt injured her neck in a fall, ending her performing career.[8] After that, she was a vocal coach who worked with opera and concert singers from her studio at Carnegie Hall.[9][10] Her specialty, advertised as "Miller Vocal Art-Science",[11][12] involved training and rehabilitating speaking and singing voices damaged by injury, illness, or other defects,[13] in collaboration with throat specialist Frank E. Miller.[1] She wrote about her work in a pamphlet[14] that later became a book, Make Singing a Joy (1930, with a foreword by musicologist Sigmund Spaeth).[8] She emphasized that singing naturally, without excessive training or force, produces a pleasing sound and preserves the voice from strain.[15][16] Her notable students included actress Betty Blythe[17] and oratorio singer Richard Crooks.[18]
Gescheidt was active in the National Federation of Music Clubs, especially on a committee to promote quality music in film scores.[1][19]
Personal life
[edit]Gescheidt died in a hospital in New York City in 1946, at the age of 69.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Mme. Adelaide Gescheidt; Voice Teacher Here for 35 Years Trained Concert Artists". The New York Times. 1946-09-20. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
- ^ "Twenty-Five Years Pastor". The Courier-News. 1909-05-28. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-07-03 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Mehan Studio Musicales". The Musical Courier: 25. May 20, 1903.
- ^ "Bruno Huhn To Teach in Los Angeles". Pacific Coast Musician: 10. March 29, 1924.
- ^ "Edith Haines Kuester". The Musical Courier: 11. December 23, 1908.
- ^ The New York Church and Musical Directory of New York and Brooklyn and Other Adjacent Suburbs. William Grant James. 1908. p. 113.
- ^ "New York State Music Teachers Association". Syracuse Post. June 27, 1910. p. 5.
- ^ a b Gescheidt, Adelaide; Gescheidt, Adelaide (1930). Make singing a joy. Boston Public Library. New York : R. L. Huntzinger, Inc.
- ^ "Extraordinary Showing for Miss Gescheidt". The Musical Leader. 45: 471. May 17, 1923.
- ^ "Adelaide Gescheidt Resumes Work". Musical Courier. 81 (12): 17. 1920-09-16 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Miller Vocal Art-Science (advertisement)". Musical America. 22: 56. October 16, 1915.
- ^ Gescheidt, Adelaide (September 12, 1918). "Singing and Breathing--Natural and Spontaneous". Musical Courier. 77: 28.
- ^ "Gescheidt Expounds Art-Science Principles". Musical Courier. 80 (2): 54. 1920-01-08 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "'Make Singing a Joy' Says Miss Gescheidt". Musical Leader. 45: 595. June 21, 1923.
- ^ "Art of Singing Is Viewed as Normal and Natural Process by Adelaide Gescheidt". Musical Courier. 109: 29. 1934-10-06 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Voice Production Crux of Singer's Career, Says Teacher". Musical Courier. 125 (5): 13. 1942-03-05 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Betty Blythe to Sing in London". The Musical Leader. 45: 582. June 21, 1923.
- ^ "Laurels for Young Artist". Musical Courier. 85: 63. December 7, 1922.
- ^ "New Committee to be Headed by Mrs. Kelley". The Journal Herald. 1940-04-10. p. 6. Retrieved 2022-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.