Lucia Dunham (died April 3, 1959,

Paramus, New Jersey Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...

) was an American

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 ...

, classical

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& ...

, and academic writer on singing and diction who is chiefly remembered as a longtime professor of vocal performance at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, 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 ...

from 1922-1956.

Life

Born in New York City, she studied voice at the National Conservatory of Music of America and then the Institute of Musical Art (now the Juilliard School) where she earned a diploma in 1909 and was a voice student of Adrian Freni,

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 Milka Ternina. She became a resident artist at the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

where she continued training with Alfred Giraudet. She pursued further studies with Lilli Lehmann in Salzburg and at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

where she also taught as a member of the voice faculty prior to her post at Juilliard. At Berkeley she collaborated closely with musicologist

Charles Seeger Charles Louis Seeger Jr. (December 14, 1886 – February 7, 1979) was an American musicologist, composer, teacher, and folklorist. He was the father of the American folk singers Pete Seeger (1919–2014), Peggy Seeger (b. 1935), and Mike Seeger ( ...

, and gave recitals of folk songs that were collected and/or arranged by him. She left California after the death of her husband in 1921 to live close to her remaining family in New York City. She also taught voice part time at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in addition to teaching full time at the Juilliard School. As a performer Dunham was mainly active in recitals and concerts in the United States and Europe, but did appear in

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

s in France, Austria, and California. She was particularly active as a soloist with the

San Francisco Symphony The San Francisco Symphony (SFS), founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San F ...

and the

New York Symphony Orchestra The New York Symphony Orchestra was founded as the New York Symphony Society in New York City by Leopold Damrosch in 1878. For many years it was a rival to the older Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York. It was supported by Andrew Carnegie, ...

under

Walter Damrosch Walter Johannes Damrosch (January 30, 1862December 22, 1950) was a German-born American conductor and composer. He was the director of the New York Symphony Orchestra and conducted the world premiere performances of various works, including Geo ...

. In her earlier career when she was more active she performed as a soprano, but in later years she performed as a

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middl ...

. A founding member of the

National Association of Teachers of Singing The National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) is a professional organization for singing teachers, and it is the largest association of its kind in the world. There are more than 6,500 members, mostly from the United States. Additional m ...

, many of her pupils had successful performance careers both in the United States and abroad, including Charles Bressler,

Anne Brown Anne Brown (August 9, 1912March 13, 2009) was an American soprano for whom George Gershwin rewrote the part of "Bess" into a leading role in the original production of his opera ''Porgy and Bess'' in 1935. She was also a radio and concert sing ...

Ruby Elzy Ruby Pearl Elzy (February 20, 1908 – June 26, 1943) was an American operatic soprano. She appeared on stage and in films. She recorded on albums before her death in her 30s from surgery to remove a benign tumor. Family and early life Elzy ...

Nanette Fabray Nanette Fabray (born Ruby Bernadette Nanette Theresa Fabares; October 27, 1920 – February 22, 2018) was an American actress, singer, and dancer. She began her career performing in vaudeville as a child and became a musical-theatre actress dur ...

Elia Kazan Elia Kazan (; born Elias Kazantzoglou ( el, Ηλίας Καζαντζόγλου); September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was an American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one o ...

Rosemary Kuhlmann Rosemary Kuhlmann (January 30, 1922 – August 17, 2019) was an American operatic mezzo-soprano and Broadway musical actress best known for originating the role of the Mother in Gian Carlo Menotti's ''Amahl and the Night Visitors'', the first oper ...

, Carmen Velma Shepperd, and

Graciela Rivera Graciela Rivera (17 April 1921 – 17 July 2011) was the first Puerto Rican to sing a lead role at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Early years Graciela Rivera was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. She was the seventh of eight children born to e ...

among others. She wrote several published

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monogra ...

s on the art of singing and on diction for singers. She died in hospital in Paramus, New Jersey on April 3, 1959.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunham, Lucia 1959 deaths American sopranos Columbia University faculty Juilliard School alumni Juilliard School faculty Singers from New York City University of California, Berkeley alumni University of California, Berkeley faculty Voice teachers Women music educators American women academics