Shirlee Emmons
Encyclopedia
Shirlee Emmons was an American classical soprano
, voice teacher
, and author on vocal pedagogy
. She began her career in the early 1940s as a concert soprano, eventually becoming one of the original singers in the Robert Shaw Chorale
in 1948. She branched out into opera
in the 1950s; performing mainly with regional companies in the United States. She achieved several honours as a performer, including winning the Marian Anderson Award in 1953 and an Obie Award
in 1956.
In 1964 Emmons abandoned her career as a singer to begin a second career as a voice teacher which lasted until her death 46 years later. She taught on the faculties of several universities, including Boston University
and Princeton University
, and gave masterclasses and guest lectures at schools like the University of California
and Westminster Choir College
. Several of her students have had successful singing careers, including Metropolitan Opera
stars Harolyn Blackwell
and Hei-Kyung Hong
. She co-authored 4 books on the art of singing, penned a biography on tenor Lauritz Melchior
, and also contributed articles to numerous music publications.
, Emmons was the daughter of Myron Emmons and Irene Emmons (née Kortendick). She attended P.J. Jacobs High School in her native town from which she graduated in 1940. She then entered Lawrence University
in Appleton, Wisconsin
where she earned a Bachelor of Music
degree in 1944 and was later awarded an honorary doctorate from the university in 2000. She pursued further studies at the Curtis Institute of Music
under Elisabeth Schumann
and studied in New York City with William Herman. In 1950 she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship which enabled her to study opera
in Italy at the University for Foreigners Perugia and with conductor Mario Cordone at the Music Conservatoire "Giuseppe Verdi", Milan
. She later studied with Berton Coffin and at the University of Mary Washington
.
's Mass in C major
with the Collegiate Chorale
under conductor Robert Shaw
at Town Hall
. She performed with that choir and Shaw again at Town Hall in the world premiere of Peter Mennin
's Symphony No. 4 in 1949. In 1948 she joined Shaw's newly formed Robert Shaw Chorale
with whom she performed both as an ensemble member and as a soloist into the early 1950s. She made several recordings with the group on the RCA Victor label. She also appeared as a soloist on a number of occasions with the Dessoff Choirs
under conductor Paul Boepple in the 1950s; including appearing with the choir at Carnegie Hall
as the soprano soloist in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
's Mass in C minor (1954, with tenor John McCollum
) and George Frideric Handel
's Israel in Egypt (1957).
In 1953 Emmons won the Marian Anderson Award and that same year was featured on the very first program of the Lauritz Melchior Show. She also toured Brazil in recital that year under the auspices of the National Music League
. In 1955 she sang the title role in Giacomo Puccini
's Tosca
with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
. In 1956 she portrayed Guadalena in the American Opera Society
's production of Jacques Offenbach
's La Périchole
at Town Hall with Jennie Tourel
in the title role. That same year she portrayed Susan B. Anthony
in Virgil Thomson
's The Mother of Us All
Off-Broadway
in New York, a performance for which she won an Obie Award
. In 1957 she created the role of Sister Rose Ora Easter in the world premiere of Jack Beeson
's opera The Sweet Bye and Bye at the Juilliard School
. That same year she sang Fiordiligi in Mozart
's Così fan tutte
and the title role in Richard Strauss
's Ariadne auf Naxos
at the Santa Fe Opera
. She also sang at the Festival dei Due Mondi
in Spoleto, Italy and performed in leading roles with the NBC Opera Theatre
.
(1964–1967), Princeton University
(1967–1981), Boston University
(1982–1989), the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz (1983, 1985), Rutgers University
(1990–1993), the State University of New York
(1990–1996), and the City University of New York
(1990–1997). She was also a visiting professor at Daegu University
(1998) and Myongji University
(2002), and operated a private voice studio in New York City from 1964 until her death in 2010. Three of her notable pupils were operatic sopranos Harolyn Blackwell
, Hei-Kyung Hong
, and Patrice Michaels.
In 1994 Emmons became the first female national president of the American Academy of Teachers of Singing, a position she held for several years. She co-authored four books on the art of singing: The Art of Song Recital, Power Performance for Singers, Researching the Song, and Prescriptions for Choral Excellence. She also wrote a biography on legendary tenor Lauritz Melchior
, Tristanissimo, and contributed articles to a variety of music publications; including American Music Teacher, The Classical Singer, The Journal of Voice, The NATS Journal, and The Singer's Foundation Magazine.
*FAMILY MEMORIAL PAGE
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
, voice teacher
Voice teacher
A voice teacher or singing teacher is a musical instructor who trains adults and children in the art of singing. This generally involves training in breath control and support, proper tone production, pitch control and musical intonation, proper formation of vowels and consonants as well as...
, and author on vocal pedagogy
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....
. She began her career in the early 1940s as a concert soprano, eventually becoming one of the original singers in the Robert Shaw Chorale
Robert Shaw Chorale
The Robert Shaw Chorale was a professional chorus founded in New York City in 1948 by Robert Shaw, a Californian who had been drafted out of college a decade earlier by Fred Waring to conduct his Glee Club in radio broadcasts...
in 1948. She branched out into opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
in the 1950s; performing mainly with regional companies in the United States. She achieved several honours as a performer, including winning the Marian Anderson Award in 1953 and an Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
in 1956.
In 1964 Emmons abandoned her career as a singer to begin a second career as a voice teacher which lasted until her death 46 years later. She taught on the faculties of several universities, including Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
and Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, and gave masterclasses and guest lectures at schools like the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
and Westminster Choir College
Westminster Choir College
Westminster Choir College is a residential college of music, part of Rider University, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States.Westminster Choir College educates men and women at the undergraduate and graduate levels for musical careers in music education, voice performance, piano...
. Several of her students have had successful singing careers, including Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
stars Harolyn Blackwell
Harolyn Blackwell
Harolyn Blackwell is an African-American lyric coloratura soprano who has performed in many of the world's finest opera houses, concert halls, and theaters in operas, oratorios, recitals, and Broadway musicals...
and Hei-Kyung Hong
Hei-Kyung Hong
Hong Hei-Kyung is a South Korean-American operatic lyric soprano.Hong studied at Yea Won Music School in Seoul and through scholarships went to the United States alone at age 15 to study at the Juilliard School of Music in New York and its American Opera Center...
. She co-authored 4 books on the art of singing, penned a biography on tenor Lauritz Melchior
Lauritz Melchior
Lauritz Melchior was a Danish and later American opera singer. He was the pre-eminent Wagnerian tenor of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, and has since come to be considered the quintessence of his voice type.-Biography:...
, and also contributed articles to numerous music publications.
Early life and education
Born in Stevens Point, WisconsinStevens Point, Wisconsin
Stevens Point is the county seat of Portage County, Wisconsin, United States. Located in the central part of the state, it is the largest city in the county, with a population of 24,551 at the 2000 census...
, Emmons was the daughter of Myron Emmons and Irene Emmons (née Kortendick). She attended P.J. Jacobs High School in her native town from which she graduated in 1940. She then entered Lawrence University
Lawrence University
Lawrence University is a selective, private liberal arts college with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, in Appleton, Wisconsin. Lawrence University is known for its rigorous academic environment. Founded in 1847, the first classes were held on November 12, 1849...
in Appleton, Wisconsin
Appleton, Wisconsin
Appleton is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is situated on the Fox River, 30 miles southwest of Green Bay and 100 miles north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the county seat of Outagamie County. The population was 78,086 at the 2010 census...
where she earned a Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree; the majority of work consists of prescribed music courses and study in applied music, usually requiring a...
degree in 1944 and was later awarded an honorary doctorate from the university in 2000. She pursued further studies at the Curtis Institute of Music
Curtis Institute of Music
The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. According to statistics compiled by U.S...
under Elisabeth Schumann
Elisabeth Schumann
Elisabeth Schumann was a German lyric soprano who sang in opera, operetta, oratorio, and lieder. She left a substantial legacy of recordings.-Career:...
and studied in New York City with William Herman. In 1950 she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship which enabled her to study opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
in Italy at the University for Foreigners Perugia and with conductor Mario Cordone at the Music Conservatoire "Giuseppe Verdi", Milan
Music Conservatoire "Giuseppe Verdi", Milan
The Milan Conservatory is a college of music which was established by a royal decree of 1807 in Milan, capital of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. It opened the following year with premisses in the cloisters of the Baroque church of Santa Maria della Passione. There were initially 18 boarders,...
. She later studied with Berton Coffin and at the University of Mary Washington
University of Mary Washington
The University of Mary Washington is a public, coeducational liberal arts college located in the city of Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA. Founded in 1908 by the Commonwealth of Virginia as a normal school, during much of the twentieth century it was part of the University of Virginia, until...
.
Singing career
Emmons began her career as a concert soprano in cities in Wisconsion, Minnesota, and in Chicago in the early 1940s. In 1947 she gave her first performance in New York City as the soprano soloist in Ludwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Mass in C major
Mass in C major (Beethoven)
Ludwig van Beethoven wrote his Mass in C major, Op. 86, to a commission from Prince Nikolaus Esterházy II in 1807. In fulfilling this commission, Beethoven was extending a tradition established by Joseph Haydn, who following his return from England in 1795 had composed one mass per year for the...
with the Collegiate Chorale
Collegiate Chorale
The Collegiate Chorale is a symphonic choir based in New York City, USA. It was founded in 1941 by Robert Shaw, who was later to found the professional Robert Shaw Chorale. The Collegiate Chorale continues to give several performances annually in Carnegie Hall and other major venues...
under conductor Robert Shaw
Robert Shaw
-Arts and humanities:* Bob Shaw , Irish science fiction writer* Bob Shaw , co-writer for Seinfeld, A Bugs Life and others* Robert J...
at Town Hall
The Town Hall
The Town Hall is a performance space, located at 123 West 43rd Street, between Sixth Avenue and Broadway, in New York City. It seats approximately 1,500 people.-History:...
. She performed with that choir and Shaw again at Town Hall in the world premiere of Peter Mennin
Peter Mennin
Peter Mennin was an American composer and teacher. He directed the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, then for many years ran the Juilliard School, succeeding William Schuman in this role...
's Symphony No. 4 in 1949. In 1948 she joined Shaw's newly formed Robert Shaw Chorale
Robert Shaw Chorale
The Robert Shaw Chorale was a professional chorus founded in New York City in 1948 by Robert Shaw, a Californian who had been drafted out of college a decade earlier by Fred Waring to conduct his Glee Club in radio broadcasts...
with whom she performed both as an ensemble member and as a soloist into the early 1950s. She made several recordings with the group on the RCA Victor label. She also appeared as a soloist on a number of occasions with the Dessoff Choirs
Dessoff Choirs
-History:The Dessoff Choirs is an independent chorus based in New York City. Margarete Dessoff established the organization in 1930 as the union of two choirs she directed, the Adesdi chorus and the A Cappella Singers, whence the plural Choirs...
under conductor Paul Boepple in the 1950s; including appearing with the choir at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
as the soprano soloist in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Mass in C minor (1954, with tenor John McCollum
John McCollum
John McCollum is an American tenor who had an active singing career in operas, concerts, and recitals during the 1950s through the 1970s. As an opera singer he performed with companies throughout North America, mostly working with second tier opera houses...
) and George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
's Israel in Egypt (1957).
In 1953 Emmons won the Marian Anderson Award and that same year was featured on the very first program of the Lauritz Melchior Show. She also toured Brazil in recital that year under the auspices of the National Music League
National Music League
The National Music League was an American arts organization based in New York City that was active during the 1920s through the 1960s. Founded as a non-profit institution in June 1925, the organization was dedicated to supporting and furthering the careers of talented young American classical...
. In 1955 she sang the title role in Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is a professional American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland.In September 2007, Maestra Marin Alsop led her inaugural concerts as the Orchestra’s twelfth music director, making her the first woman to head a major American orchestra.The BSO Board...
. In 1956 she portrayed Guadalena in the American Opera Society
American Opera Society
The American Opera Society was a New York City based musical organization that presented concert and semi-staged performances of operas between 1951 and 1970...
's production of Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
's La Périchole
La Périchole
La Périchole is an opéra bouffe in three acts by Jacques Offenbach. Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote the French-language libretto based on the 1829 one act play Le carrosse du Saint-Sacrement by Prosper Mérimée, which was revived on 13 March 1850 at the Théâtre-Français...
at Town Hall with Jennie Tourel
Jennie Tourel
Jennie Tourel was a Russian-American operatic mezzo-soprano, known for her work in both opera and recital performances....
in the title role. That same year she portrayed Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony
Susan Brownell Anthony was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights movement to introduce women's suffrage into the United States. She was co-founder of the first Women's Temperance Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as President...
in Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music...
's The Mother of Us All
The Mother of Us All
The Mother of Us All is an opera by Virgil Thomson to a libretto by Gertrude Stein. It chronicles the life of Susan B. Anthony, one of the major figures in the fight for women's suffrage in the United States...
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
in New York, a performance for which she won an Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
. In 1957 she created the role of Sister Rose Ora Easter in the world premiere of Jack Beeson
Jack Beeson
Jack Beeson was an American composer. He was known particularly for his operas, the best known of which are Lizzie Borden, Hello Out There! and The Sweet Bye and Bye.-Biography:...
's opera The Sweet Bye and Bye at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
. That same year she sang Fiordiligi in Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....
and the title role in Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
's Ariadne auf Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos is an opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Bringing together slapstick comedy and consuming beautiful music, the opera's theme is the competition between high and low art for the public's attention.- First version :The opera was originally...
at the Santa Fe Opera
Santa Fe Opera
The Santa Fe Opera is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe in the U.S. state of New Mexico, headquartered on a former guest ranch of .-General history:...
. She also sang at the Festival dei Due Mondi
Festival dei Due Mondi
The Festival dei Due Mondi ' is an annual summer music and opera festival held each June to early July in Spoleto, Italy, since its founding by composer Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958...
in Spoleto, Italy and performed in leading roles with the NBC Opera Theatre
NBC Opera Theatre
The NBC Opera Theatre was an American opera company operated by the National Broadcasting Company from 1949 to 1964. The company was established specifically for the purpose of filming both established and new operas for television...
.
Voice teacher and author
Emmons abandoned her performance career in favor of teaching in the mid 1960s. She served on the voice faculties of numerous institutions during her lifetime, including Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
(1964–1967), Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
(1967–1981), Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
(1982–1989), the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz (1983, 1985), Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
(1990–1993), the State University of New York
State University of New York
The State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY , is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 465,000 students, plus...
(1990–1996), and the City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
(1990–1997). She was also a visiting professor at Daegu University
Daegu University
Daegu University is a private university in South Korea. Its campus is located a short distance outside Daegu, in Gyeongsan City, North Gyeongsang province. The school currently consists of 13 colleges from college of humanities to college of rehabilitation....
(1998) and Myongji University
Myongji University
Myongji University was founded in 1948 and is located in South Korea. It provides higher education in the fields of engineering, sciences and humanities. It has two campuses; one in downtown Seoul, and the other in Yongin, 35km south of Seoul...
(2002), and operated a private voice studio in New York City from 1964 until her death in 2010. Three of her notable pupils were operatic sopranos Harolyn Blackwell
Harolyn Blackwell
Harolyn Blackwell is an African-American lyric coloratura soprano who has performed in many of the world's finest opera houses, concert halls, and theaters in operas, oratorios, recitals, and Broadway musicals...
, Hei-Kyung Hong
Hei-Kyung Hong
Hong Hei-Kyung is a South Korean-American operatic lyric soprano.Hong studied at Yea Won Music School in Seoul and through scholarships went to the United States alone at age 15 to study at the Juilliard School of Music in New York and its American Opera Center...
, and Patrice Michaels.
In 1994 Emmons became the first female national president of the American Academy of Teachers of Singing, a position she held for several years. She co-authored four books on the art of singing: The Art of Song Recital, Power Performance for Singers, Researching the Song, and Prescriptions for Choral Excellence. She also wrote a biography on legendary tenor Lauritz Melchior
Lauritz Melchior
Lauritz Melchior was a Danish and later American opera singer. He was the pre-eminent Wagnerian tenor of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, and has since come to be considered the quintessence of his voice type.-Biography:...
, Tristanissimo, and contributed articles to a variety of music publications; including American Music Teacher, The Classical Singer, The Journal of Voice, The NATS Journal, and The Singer's Foundation Magazine.
External links
*FAMILY MEMORIAL PAGE