Sarah Robinson-Duff (died May 11, 1934, New York City) was an American operatic soprano and celebrated

voice teacher A voice teacher or singing teacher is a musical instructor who assists adults and children in the development of their abilities in singing. Typical work A voice teacher works with a student singer to improve the various skills involved in singi ...

of many important opera singers, including

Mary Garden A Mary garden is a small sacred garden enclosing a statue or shrine of the Virgin Mary, who is known to many Christians as the Blessed Virgin, Our Lady, or the Mother of God. In the New Testament, Mary is the mother of Jesus of Nazareth. Mary ...

and

Alice Nielsen Alice Nielsen (June 7, 1872 – March 8, 1943) was a Broadway performer and operatic soprano who had her own opera company and starred in several Victor Herbert operettas. Background Her father, Rasmus, was a Danish troubadour from Aarhus. Her m ...

. She wrote the

vocal pedagogy Vocal pedagogy is the study of the art and science of voice instruction. It is used in the teaching of singing and assists in defining what singing is, how singing works, and how proper singing technique is accomplished. Vocal pedagogy covers a ...

book '' Simple Truths Used by Great Singers'' (1919) which was based in the tradition of Robinson-Duff's teacher,

Mathilde Marchesi Mathilde Marchesi (née Graumann; 24 March 1821 – 17 November 1913) was a German mezzo-soprano, a singing teacher, and a proponent of the bel canto vocal method. Biography Marchesi was born in Frankfurt. Her father's last name was Graumann; ...

. She is considered one of the most important American voice teachers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Life and career

Born in Bangor, Maine, Robinson-Duff was the daughter of Henry K. Robinson and his wife Frances Robinson (née McClintock). She was a descendant of John Robinson (1576–1625), the pastor of the "

Pilgrim Fathers The Pilgrims, also known as the Pilgrim Fathers, were the English settlers who came to North America on the ''Mayflower'' and established the Plymouth Colony in what is today Plymouth, Massachusetts, named after the final departure port of Plymo ...

" before they left on the ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...

''. When she was 18 she married Colonel Charles Duff. Their daughter, Frances Robinson-Duff (1878-1951), became an important teacher of drama whose students included Katharine Hepburn,

Dorothy Gish Dorothy Elizabeth Gish (March 11, 1898June 4, 1968) was an American actress of the screen and stage, as well as a director and writer. Dorothy and her older sister Lillian Gish were major movie stars of the silent era. Dorothy also had great s ...

, Helen Hayes,

Mary Pickford Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...

, and

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

among many others. They also had two sons: Roden Robinson-Duff, a physician in Chicago, and Jay Robinson-Duff, a trader on the New York Stock exchange. Robinson-Duff studied singing in Europe with

George Henschel Sir Isidor George Henschel (18 February 185010 September 1934) was a German-born British baritone, pianist, conductor, and composer. His first wife Lillian was also a singer. He was the first conductor of both the Boston Symphony Orchestra ...

and

. Before her teaching career she was active as a soprano in concerts and operas in Europe. She taught singing in Chicago from 1889 through 1897 where one of her pupils was

. Her voice studio was located at No. 63

Auditorium Building The Auditorium Building in Chicago is one of the best-known designs of Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler. Completed in 1889, the building is located at the northwest corner of South Michigan Avenue and Ida B. Wells Drive. The building was des ...

. In 1890 she performed in recital with her students at Central Music Hall. In 1897 she relocated to Paris, and celebrated the

turn of the century Turn of the century, in its broadest sense, refers to the transition from one century to another. The term is most often used to indicate a distinctive time period either before or after the beginning of a century or both before and after. Ac ...

at a party held by

Horace Porter Horace Porter (April 15, 1837May 29, 1921) was an American soldier and diplomat who served as a lieutenant colonel, ordnance officer and staff officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, personal secretary to General and President Ul ...

United States Ambassador to France The United States ambassador to France is the official representative of the president of the United States to the president of France. The United States has maintained diplomatic relations with France since the American Revolution. Relations we ...

, and his wife. She taught singing in Paris for 22 years. In 1919 she returned to the United States and settled in New York City where she continued to teach voice. One of her students was soprano Florence Kimball, the teacher of

Leontyne Price Mary Violet Leontyne Price (born February 10, 1927) is an American soprano who was the first African American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera, where she was the first Af ...

, who became a celebrated voice teacher at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

for 45 years. Her other successful students included

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typica ...

Jessie Bartlett Davis Jessie Bartlett Davis (1860 – May 14, 1905) was an American operatic singer and actress from Morris, Illinois, who was billed as "America's Representative Contralto". Opera and acting She was born Jessie Fremont Bartlett, one of ten child ...

; sopranos

Frieda Hempel Frieda Hempel (26 June 1885 – 7 October 1955) was a German lyric coloratura soprano singer in operatic and concert work who had an international career in Europe and the United States. Life Hempel was born in Leipzig and studied first at th ...

Mary McCormic Mary McCormic (November 11, 1889DOB is from her grave marker; the DOD listed in thSocial Security Death Indexstates November 12, 1895; the grave marker is consistent with archival records, namely the 1910 US Census, which, places her DOB around ...

, and Marcia Van Dresser; mezzo-sopranos

Olive Fremstad Olive Fremstad (14 March 1871 – 21 April 1951) was the stage name of Anna Olivia Rundquist, a celebrated Swedish-American opera diva who sang in both the mezzo-soprano and soprano ranges.Rosenthal and Warrack (1979) p. 180 Background Born ...

and Fanchon H. Thompson; and vaudeville star Nora Bayes. She was quoted in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' as stating:

"Breath and brains are the qualifications most necessary for a singer."

She died in New York City on May 11, 1934.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson Duff, Sarah Year of birth unknown 1934 deaths Voice teachers American operatic sopranos Musicians from Bangor, Maine