Ruby Mercer, CM (26 July 1906 – 26 January 1999) was an American-born Canadian writer, broadcaster, soprano and entrepreneur. Mercer was born in

Athens, Ohio Athens is a city and the county seat of Athens County, Ohio. The population was 23,849 at the 2020 census. Located along the Hocking River within Appalachian Ohio about southeast of Columbus, Athens is best known as the home of Ohio Universit ...

, and grew up in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. In 1936, she made her debut as a member of the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

, portraying Nedda in ''

Pagliacci ''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, "Clowns") is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who m ...

''. She founded ''

Opera Canada ''Opera Canada'' is a quarterly music magazine published by Opera Canada Publications. It is the oldest continuously published arts magazine in Canada. It is an independent magazine separate from the Canadian Opera Association. Along with Opera ...

'', a periodical for which she served as editor from 1960 to 1990. She also founded the

Canadian Children's Opera Chorus The Canadian Children's Opera Company (formerly the Canadian Children's Opera Chorus, CCOC) is a large choral group based in Toronto. The company consists of five divisions of approximately 240 boys and girls aged 6 to 19. The Principal Chorus ha ...

, and served as its first president. She was host of

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

's weekly show ''Opera Time'' from 1962 to 1979, as well as its successor ''Opera In Stereo'' from 1979 to 1984. She became a member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

in 1995.

Awards and honours

* BA (Ohio) 1927, B MUS (Cincinnati) 1930, honorary D MUS (Ohio) 1978, honorary LLD (U of T) 1995. * Walter W. Naumburg Foundation award (1934) * Canadian Music Council medal (1983) * Toronto Arts lifetime achievement award (1988) *

(1995)

Writing

* ''The Tenor of His Time'' (Toronto, 1976), a biography of Edward Johnson * ''The Quilicos - Louis, Gino and Lina'' (Oakville, Ontario, 1990) * Articles to EMC,

Musical America ''Musical America'' is the oldest American magazine on classical music, first appearing in 1898 in print and in 1999 online, at musicalamerica.com. It is published by Performing Arts Resources, LLC, of East Windsor, New Jersey. History 1898–19 ...

, and

Opera News ''Opera News'' is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to engender the appreciation of opera and also support ...

* Columns and reviews for

Citations

External links

Mercer
at

Encyclopedia of Music in Canada ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available for ...

, accessed August 27, 2019
Interview with Ruby Mercer
November 14, 1991 1906 births 1999 deaths American emigrants to Canada Canadian women journalists Canadian radio personalities Classical music radio presenters Journalists from Toronto People from Athens, Ohio Writers from Toronto Musicians from Toronto Canadian music journalists Canadian magazine publishers (people) Canadian women non-fiction writers Members of the Order of Canada Women biographers Canadian women columnists American women columnists American women radio presenters Canadian women radio presenters Women writers about music 20th-century biographers 20th-century Canadian women opera singers 20th-century Canadian women writers {{Canada-journalist-stub