Fay Foster (November 8, 1886 – April 17, 1960) was an American pianist, composer, and teacher.

Biography

Foster was born in

Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth () is the county seat and largest city of Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 37,351. It is located on the west bank of t ...

on November 8, 1886. She was a child prodigy, performing publicly by the age of 5, and professionally as organist and choir director by age 12. In Chicago she studied piano under

William Hall Sherwood William Hall Sherwood (January 31, 1854 – January 7, 1911) was a late 19th and early 20th century American pianist and music educator who, after having studied in Europe with notable musicians, became one of the first renowned piano performers ...

, voice under Mme Dove-Boitte, and theory with

Frederick Grant Gleason Frederick Grant Gleason (born 17 December 1848 in Middletown, Connecticut - died Chicago, 6 December 1903) was an American composer, and director of the Chicago Conservatory from 1900 to 1903. Gleason's father was a banker. Like many other well- ...

. At the age of 17 she went on a national tour playing the piano for Sherwood's Grand Opera Company. Following her Chicago studies, at the age of 19, she was appointed director of the Grand Prairie Seminary's Conservatory of Music in Onarga, Illinois. In 1897 she opened a studio in Chicago's Steinway Hall to teach piano and theory. In 1899 she travelled to Europe for twelve years, studying further under Heinrich Schwartz,

Moritz Rosenthal Moriz Rosenthal (17 December 18623 September 1946) was a Polish Jews, Polish pianist and composer. He was an outstanding pupil of Franz Liszt and a friend and colleague of some of the greatest musicians of his age, including Johannes Brahms, Joha ...

, and Sofie Menter in Munich, and under Theodore Wiehmeyer, Alfred Reisenauer, and

Salomon Jadassohn Salomon Jadassohn (13 August 1831 – 1 February 1902) was a German pianist, composer and a renowned teacher of piano and composition at the Leipzig Conservatory. Life Jadassohn was born to a Jewish family living in Breslau, the capital of the ...

at the Leipzig Conservatory. She studied singing under Siga Garso, Hans Weinhoppel and Alexander Heinemann. She performed opera for two years in Italy. In 1910, Berlin's

Die Woche ''Die Woche'' (, "The Week") was an illustrated weekly newspaper published in Berlin from 1899 to 1944. It reported on popular entertainment, including "sensationalist crime stories", and covered celebrities in sports and show business. Its publish ...

sponsored an international contest for a waltz modelled on the Blue Danube. Her

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...

"The Prairie Flower" (originally titled Sit Illi Terra Levis), judged by a panel headed by

Johann Strauss III Johann Maria Eduard Strauss III (16 February 18669 January 1939; german: Johann Strauß III) was an Austrian composer whose father was Eduard Strauss, whose uncles were Johann Strauss II and Josef Strauss, and whose grandfather was Johann Strauss ...

, won second prize out of 4,222 submissions. In early 1911 she returned to Kansas City to be with her sick father. Soon afterward she settled in New York City, establishing educational studios in Manhattan and in Hempstead. She divided her time between composing, teaching, and recital/accompanist work. She founded and directed the Foster Choral Club in Hempstead, Long Island. She taught voice at the

American Institute of Applied Music The American Institute of Applied Music was a music school based in New York City. The Institute was incorporated in 1900 as an (merger) of the following educational institutions: # The Metropolitan College of Music (founded 1891) # The Metropol ...

. With two of her AIAM colleagues Josef Berge and Gene Gravelle, she founded the Foster Trio vocal ensemble. From 1923 to 1933 she taught at the Ogontz School in Rydall, Pennsylvania. Foster was a prolific song composer. She won first place in the American Composers Competition in 1913. Her song "Are You For Me or Against Me?" won a prize in 1919 from the

New York American :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 t ...

, a competition with over 10,000 applicants. Foster was the only woman composer to win a prize. Her song " The Americans Come (An Episode in France in the Year 1918)" was her most widely heard composition, having become part of the American post-WWI propaganda effort. George Harris Jr. and Margaret Romaine sang it on their tour in support of

Liberty Loans A liberty bond (or liberty loan) was a war bond that was sold in the United States to support the Allies of World War I#Co-belligerents; the United States, Allied cause in World War I. Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic dut ...

, and

Pathé Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French people, French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest ...

contributed sales of its recording by Paul Althouse to the war bond effort. Reinald Werrenrath recorded it for RCA Victor. It had performances at

New York Hippodrome The Hippodrome Theatre, also called the New York Hippodrome, was a theater in New York City from 1905 to 1939, located on Sixth Avenue between West 43rd and West 44th Streets in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan. It was called the worl ...

by John McCormack, by Lotta Madden and several others at New York's Wanamaker's, by Yvonne de Tréville in Washington DC, and by Schumann-Heink and Theodore Van Yorx. In 1930 the song was turned into a short film by Alfred Mannon and Elmer Clifton featuring

Otto Matieson Otto Matieson (27 March 1893 – 19 February 1932) was a Danish actor of the silent era. He appeared in 45 films between 1920 and 1931. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and died in a car accident in Safford, Arizona. Filmography * '' T ...

. She was a member of the Society of American Women Composers, Society of German Composers, the youngest admitted member of the Chicago Manuscript Society, the Authors' League of America, the Guild of Vocal Teachers, and the Musicians, No Name, Gamut, and MacDowell clubs of New York. She owned a summer home in

Lavallette, New Jersey Lavallette is a borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 1,875,

Compositions

Below is a non-comprehensive list of Foster's compositions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Fay 1886 births 1960 deaths 20th-century American educators 20th-century American women educators American women composers 20th-century American composers People from Leavenworth, Kansas Musicians from Kansas 20th-century American women musicians 20th-century women composers