Clara Louise Kellogg (July 9, 1842 – May 13, 1916) was an American operatic soprano.
Biography
Clara Louise Kellogg was born in
Sumterville, South Carolina
Sumter ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Sumter County, South Carolina, United States. Known as the Sumter Metropolitan Statistical Area, the namesake county adjoins Clarendon and Lee to form the core of Sumter-Lee-Clarendon Tri-county (or ...
, the daughter of Jane Elizabeth (Crosby) and
George Kellogg. She received her musical training in the
Academy of Music, New York City, and first sang opera there in 1861. Her fine
soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
voice and artistic gifts soon made her famous. She appeared as prima donna in Italian opera in London and at concerts in 1867 and 1868, and from that time till 1887 was one of the leading public singers. She appeared at intervals in London, but was principally engaged in America.
In 1874 Kellogg organized an opera company widely known in the United States, and her enterprise and energy in directing it were remarkable. The company weathered a tragedy on May 26, 1882, when two members,
virtuoso
A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...
pianist
Herman Rietzel and bass singer George Conly, drowned on
Lake Spofford
Spofford Lake is a body of water in the town of Chesterfield in southwestern New Hampshire, United States. Water from Spofford Lake flows via Partridge Brook to the Connecticut River. In 2005 the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department named it th ...
while on tour.
Kellogg retired after marrying Carl Strakosch in
Elkhart, Indiana, on November 6, 1886. In 1913 she published her memoirs under the title ''Memoirs of an American Prima Donna''. She died at her home in
New Hartford, Connecticut
New Hartford is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 6,658 at the 2020 census. The town center is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as the New Hartford Center census-designated place (CDP). The town is mainl ...
on May 13, 1916.
References
Bibliography
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External links
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portrait and short bio*
tint colorstereo portrait
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kellogg, Clara Louise
1842 births
1916 deaths
19th-century American women opera singers
20th-century American memoirists
American operatic sopranos
American stage actresses
People from Sumter, South Carolina
American women memoirists
20th-century American women writers
Singers from South Carolina
Classical musicians from South Carolina