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
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
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
Gescheidt died in a hospital in New York City in 1946, at the age of 69.[1]
References
- ^ 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.