Ada Kent
{{Short description|Canadian music educator (1888 – 1969)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ada Kent
| honorific_suffix = LRAM
| image = AdaTwohyKent1913.png
| alt = A white woman with light hair in a bouffant updo
| caption = Ada Twohy, later Kent, from a 1913 publication
| birth_name = Ada Jane Fairlane Twohy
| birth_date = 8 February 1888
| birth_place = Denver, Colorado, U.S.
| death_date = 23 July 1969 (aged 81)
| death_place = London, U.K.
| other_names =
| occupation = Musician, composer, music educator
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives =
}}
Ada Twohy Kent (8 February 1888 – 23 July 1969) was a Canadian musician, composer, and music educator. She was described as "probably Canada's most successful woman composer" in a 1943 profile.{{Cite news |last=Turnbull |first=Isabel |date=1943-10-09 |title=Woman Composer |pages=15 |work=The Windsor Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-windsor-star-woman-composerisabel-t/137819014/ |access-date=2024-01-01 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Early life and education
Ada Jane Fairlane Twohy{{Cite news |date=1918-10-22 |title=Kent-Twohy |pages=5 |work=Owen Sound Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/owen-sound-sun-kent-twohy/137823973/ |access-date=2024-01-01 |via=Newspapers.com}} was born in Denver, Colorado, the daughter of William Humphrey Twohy and Ada Lutz Twohy. Her parents were both Canadian. Her piano teachers included J. E. P. Aldous and A. S. Vogt. She earned a bachelor's degree in music at the University of Toronto in 1906, at age 18,{{Cite news |date=1906-06-04 |title=Remarkable Success; Miss Ada Twohy Has Become a Bachelor of Music |pages=4 |work=The Hamilton Spectator |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-hamilton-spectator-remarkable-succes/137823842/ |access-date=2024-01-01 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1953-12-11 |title=Ada Twohy Kent Musicale Guest |pages=8 |work=The Hamilton Spectator |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-hamilton-spectator-ada-twohy-kent-mu/137799993/ |access-date=2024-01-01 |via=Newspapers.com}} and an LRAM from the Royal Academy of Music in London.[https://archive.org/details/no7conservatory11v12toro/page/44/mode/1up?q=Twohy "Miss Ada Twohy"] The Conservatory Bi-Monthly 12(2)(February 1913): 44-45. via Internet Archive.{{Cite news |date=1905-11-10 |title=Piano Recital |pages=10 |work=The Hamilton Spectator |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-hamilton-spectator-piano-recital/137819463/ |access-date=2024-01-01 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Career
Kent was a pianist and composer from her teens, and a music educator. In Hamilton, Ontario, she was a church organist beginning in her teens, and taught at the Hamilton School of Music. She was also a church organist in Toronto, where she taught at the Toronto Conservatory of Music, and at Moulton Ladies' College. She toured as accompanist for the Canadian Mendelssohn Choir.{{Cite news |last=Armstrong |first=Isabel C. |date=1937-12-04 |title=A Thing of Utmost Importance To a Country to Have Own Art |pages=14 |work=The Ottawa Citizen |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ottawa-citizen-a-thing-of-utmost-imp/137799738/ |access-date=2024-01-01 |via=Newspapers.com}} In 1938, she gave a recital of her own works at London's Wigmore Hall.{{Cite news |last=Ross |first=William |date=1938-06-18 |title=Former Ottawa Musician Reviews Canadian Pianist-Composer's Recital |pages=18 |work=The Ottawa Citizen |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ottawa-citizen-former-ottawa-musicia/137818586/ |access-date=2024-01-01 |via=Newspapers.com}} She gave a similar program in 1939, at the Prince Edward Hotel in Windsor.{{Cite news |date=1939-10-10 |title=Mrs. Ada Twohy Kent Guest Artist at Opening Session |pages=17 |work=The Windsor Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-windsor-star-mrs-ada-twohy-kent-gue/137818798/ |access-date=2024-01-01 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1939-10-09 |title=Composer Here Wednesday |pages=11 |work=The Windsor Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-windsor-star-composer-here-wednesday/137819319/ |access-date=2024-01-01 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Kent composed works for piano, violin, and voice,{{Cite news |date=1937-11-16 |title=Render Canadian Music |pages=20 |work=The Toronto Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-toronto-star-render-canadian-music/137800704/ |access-date=2024-01-01 |via=Newspapers.com}} and wrote several books of songs for children.{{Cite web |last=Wardrop |first=Patricia |date=July 10, 2007 |title=Ada Kent |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ada-kent-emc |access-date=2024-01-01 |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |language=en}} She often used texts by Canadian writers as the lyrics of her songs.{{Cite news |date=1938-10-18 |title=Mrs. Matthews to Attend Ada Twohy Kent's Recital |pages=22 |work=The Toronto Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-toronto-star-mrs-matthews-to-attend/137800277/ |access-date=2024-01-01 |via=Newspapers.com}} "Ada Twohy Kent has the precious gift of melodic sense," wrote a reviewer in 1937, about her first book of songs. "There's a simple vigor and often a lyric enchantment in these songs that entirely ignores sad or gloomy suggestions."{{Cite news |date=1937-12-18 |title=Songs for Children New Book Creation |pages=16 |work=The Toronto Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-toronto-star-songs-for-children-new/137800443/ |access-date=2024-01-01 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Publications
Personal life
References
{{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Ada}}
Category:Canadian women musicians