Nevada Van der Veer Miller (July 25, 1884 – September 26, 1958) was an American contralto singer.

Early life

Emma Nevada Van der Veer was born in New York, the daughter of George Wyckoff Van der Veer and Jennie Lind Catlin Van der Veer. She was named for the American opera singer

Emma Nevada Emma Nevada (née Wixom) (7 February 1859 – 20 June 1940) was an American operatic soprano particularly known for her performances in operas by Bellini and Donizetti and the French composers Ambroise Thomas, Charles Gounod, and Léo Del ...

. She studied music in New York and Boston, with further studies in England.

Career

Nevada Van der Veer was a paid contralto soloist at two New York City churches, Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas and Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, and at Church of the Pilgrims in Brooklyn. She maintained a busy touring and schedule in the 1920s, both before after giving her first solo recital at Aeolian Hall in 1920. Her voice was described as "powerful, but always smooth and velvety in quality, no matter how loudly she sings." Van der Veer made several recordings between 1911 and 1925, including with the Victor Light Opera Company, and several with her husband

Reed Miller James Reed Miller (February 29, 1880 – December 29, 1923), who recorded as Reed Miller and as James Reed, was an American tenor who had an active career as a concert and oratorio singer during the first quarter of the 20th century. He posse ...

, in duet or quartet arrangements. In 1923, she sang at the grave of

Susan B. Anthony Susan B. Anthony (born Susan Anthony; February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to s ...

, during an event organized by the

National Woman's Party The National Woman's Party (NWP) was an American women's political organization formed in 1916 to fight for women's suffrage. After achieving this goal with the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the NW ...

. When New York radio station

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began in 1926, Van der Veer was featured in the live on-air concert that started their programming. In 1921 and 1922, Van der Veer and her husband ran a "summer vocal school" for young singers near Lake George, New York. She was head of the voice department at the

Cleveland Institute of Music The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) is a private music conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1920 by Ernest Bloch, it enrolls 325 students in the conservatory and approximately 1,500 students in the preparatory and continuing educatio ...

, from 1934 until her retirement in 1949."Mme. Van der Veer, Singer, Teacher, 74"
''New York Times'' (September 27, 1958): 21. She was a member of the New York Singing Teachers Association.

Personal life

Nevada Van der Veer married

, a noted tenor. She was widowed in 1923,Emmala Reed
''A Faithful Heart: The Journals of Emmala Reed, 1865 and 1866''
(University of South Carolina Press 2004): 262. and she died in 1958, aged 74 years, in New York.

References

External links

Nevada Van der Veer Miller's gravesite
on Find a Grave.
A 1920s promotional flyer for Nevada Van der Veer
in the Redpath Chautauqua Collection, University of Iowa Libraries. {{DEFAULTSORT:Van der Veer, Nevada 1884 births 1958 deaths American contraltos Cleveland Institute of Music faculty 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers Singers from New York City American music educators American women music educators American women academics