Adele Parkhurst (June 5, 1885 – October 22, 1965), born Adele Bedelia Maloney, was an American concert singer.

Early life

Adele Bedelia Maloney was from Hopkins, Minnesota, the daughter of Michael F. Maloney and Albertina Erickson Maloney. Her father was born in Ireland and was a

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

veteran of the

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; her mother was born in Chicago. Adele Parkhurst sang at the Minnesota pavilion at the

Louisiana Purchase Exposition The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds tota ...

in 1904, and trained as a singer with Wilfried Klamroth.

Career

Parkhurst was a "birdlike and graceful"

coloratura soprano A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs, leaps and trills. The term '' coloratura'' refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component o ...

, who gave concerts at New York's Aeolian Hall in 1920, and the

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venue in 1921. She was soprano soloist at the

Church of the Divine Paternity The Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York is a congregation within the Unitarian Universalist Association located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It is the last surviving of seven Universalist congregations in the city, founded ...

in New York City. A 1922 report described her as "one of the best singers of oratorio form of music now before the public." She sang in radio concerts, operettas, and operas later in the 1920s. She sang as a soloist with symphonies in New York, Chicago, and Minneapolis.

Personal life

Adele Maloney was married Clifford Eugene Parkhurst, a naval designer and consultant, until his death in 1959. She later married Paul E. Orr. She died in 1965, aged 80 years, in

Dunedin, Florida Dunedin is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The name comes from ''Dùn Èideann'', the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Dunedin is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area and is ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parkhurst, Adele 1885 births 1965 deaths American sopranos People from Hopkins, Minnesota Singers from Minnesota Classical musicians from Minnesota 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers American people of Irish descent