Bina Addy (born 13 Jan 1894, died 1962), also seen as Bini Addy, was an Indian singer of popular Bengali and western songs.

Early life

Bina Addy was from Calcutta, from a Bengali Christian family; two of her brothers became college professors. Her voice first attracted notice in a church choir in Calcutta. She studied music in Europe after 1928, with

Elena Gerhardt Elena Gerhardt (11 November 1883 – 11 January 1961) was a German mezzo-soprano singer associated with the singing of German classical lieder, of which she was considered one of the great interpreters. She left Germany for good to live in London ...

in Leipzig and Mario Cotogni in Rome."Bina Addy Indian Contralto to Tour A. B. C."
''The Wireless Weekly'' (5 February 1937): 67. via Trove

Career

Addy was considered a mezzo-soprano or contralto singer. She was promoted as the first Indian woman to study Western music in Europe, and the first to become a professional singer touring internationally. She performed on BBC radio broadcasts between 1929 and 1932. In 1931, the

League of Nations Union The League of Nations Union (LNU) was an organization formed in October 1918 in Great Britain to promote international justice, collective security and a permanent peace between nations based upon the ideals of the League of Nations. The League of N ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

held a reception for Addy, where she performed. Addy sang in concerts, on radio, and at benefits for the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

and other organizations, in Australia and New Zealand in the 1930s. She was involved in the centenary celebrations in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

in 1936. Her programs were mainly Bengali songs, including works by

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

, but she sometimes included British folk songs, African-American spirituals, Italian arias, and German

lieder In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French sp ...

. She also gave short talks during her programs, about

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

, Tagore, and other Indian topics. She was often accompanied by women musicians. "Her technique is assured and well-founded, and with this she associates an impressive sense of style," noted one Australian critic in 1937. "It is my sincere desire to create a better understanding between my country and other nations," she told an interviewer in 1937, "and if I could feel that I had in any way provided a link between the East and the West, I should be content."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Addy, Bina Bengali singers 1962 deaths Musicians from Kolkata