Adelaide Gescheidt
{{short description|American singer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Adelaide Gescheidt
| image = AdelaideGescheidt1922.tif
| alt = A white woman wearing a large brimmed black hat, and a dark dress with a square neckline
| caption = Adelaide Gescheidt, from a 1922 publication
| other_names =
| birth_name = Mary Adelaide Gescheidt
| birth_date = February 16, 1877
| birth_place = Mount Vernon, New York
| death_date = September 18, 1946 (aged 69)
| death_place = New York City
| occupation = Voice teacher, clubwoman
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives =
}}
Mary Adelaide Gescheidt (February 16, 1877 – September 18, 1946) was an American voice teacher, writer, and clubwoman, based in New York City.
Early life
Gescheidt was born in Mount Vernon, New York, the daughter of Albert F. Gescheidt and Mary Steurer Gescheidt.{{Cite news |date=1946-09-20 |title=Mme. Adelaide Gescheidt; Voice Teacher Here for 35 Years Trained Concert Artists |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1946/09/20/archives/mme-adelaide-gescheidt-voice-teacher-here-for-35-years-trained.html |access-date=2022-07-02 |issn=0362-4331}} Her father was a businessman; all her grandparents were born in Germany.
Career
Gescheidt was a concert and church soprano in the early 20th century.{{Cite news |date=1909-05-28 |title=Twenty-Five Years Pastor |pages=1 |work=The Courier-News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104847047/twenty-five-years-pastor/ |access-date=2022-07-03 |via=Newspapers.com}} She studied singing with John Dennis Mehan{{cite journal|title=Mehan Studio Musicales|journal=The Musical Courier|page=25|date=May 20, 1903}} and Bruno Huhn.{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RAFdrFYcLycC&dq=%22Bruno+Huhn%22+%22madison+avenue+baptist%22&pg=RA5-PA10|title=Bruno Huhn To Teach in Los Angeles|journal=Pacific Coast Musician|date=March 29, 1924|page=10}} The composer and pianist Edith Haines Kuester was her piano teacher and vocal coach.{{cite journal|title=Edith Haines Kuester|journal=The Musical Courier|page=11|date=December 23, 1908}} In 1907-1908 she was the paid resident soprano soloist at Willis Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church in the Bronx.{{cite book|page=113|title=The New York Church and Musical Directory of New York and Brooklyn and Other Adjacent Suburbs|publisher=William Grant James|year=1908}} In 1910 she performed Haines Kuester's song cycle In Helena's Garden (words by Richard Watson Gilder) in a concert performed at Crouse College during the convention of the New York State Music Teachers Association with the composer as her accompanist.{{cite news|work=Syracuse Post|date=June 27, 1910|page= 5|title=New York State Music Teachers Association}}
Gescheidt injured her neck in a fall, ending her performing career.{{Cite book |last1=Gescheidt |first1=Adelaide |url=http://archive.org/details/makesingingjoy00gesc |title=Make singing a joy |last2=Gescheidt |first2=Adelaide |date=1930 |publisher=New York : R. L. Huntzinger, Inc. |others=Boston Public Library}} After that, she was a vocal coach who worked with opera and concert singers from her studio at Carnegie Hall.{{Cite journal |date=May 17, 1923 |title=Extraordinary Showing for Miss Gescheidt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKfkwADf1ToC&dq=Adelaide+Gescheidt&pg=PA471 |journal=The Musical Leader |volume=45 |pages=471}}{{Cite journal |date=1920-09-16 |title=Adelaide Gescheidt Resumes Work |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_music-magazine-and-musical-courier_1920-09-16_81_12/page/16/mode/2up?q=Adelaide+Gescheidt |journal=Musical Courier |volume=81 |issue=12 |pages=17 |via=Internet Archive}} Her specialty, advertised as "Miller Vocal Art-Science",{{Cite journal |date=October 16, 1915 |title=Miller Vocal Art-Science (advertisement) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mkc0AQAAMAAJ&dq=Adelaide+Gescheidt&pg=RA23-PA56 |journal=Musical America |volume=22 |pages=56}}{{Cite journal |last=Gescheidt |first=Adelaide |date=September 12, 1918 |title=Singing and Breathing--Natural and Spontaneous |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HO86AQAAMAAJ&dq=Adelaide+Gescheidt&pg=RA10-PA28 |journal=Musical Courier |volume=77 |pages=28}} involved training and rehabilitating speaking and singing voices damaged by injury, illness, or other defects,{{Cite journal |date=1920-01-08 |title=Gescheidt Expounds Art-Science Principles |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_music-magazine-and-musical-courier_1920-01-08_80_2/page/54/mode/2up?q=Adelaide+Gescheidt |journal=Musical Courier |volume=80 |issue=2 |pages=54 |via=Internet Archive}} in collaboration with throat specialist Frank E. Miller. She wrote about her work in a pamphlet{{Cite journal |date=June 21, 1923 |title='Make Singing a Joy' Says Miss Gescheidt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKfkwADf1ToC&dq=Adelaide+Gescheidt&pg=PA595 |journal=Musical Leader |volume=45 |pages=595}} that later became a book, Make Singing a Joy (1930, with a foreword by musicologist Sigmund Spaeth). She emphasized that singing naturally, without excessive training or force, produces a pleasing sound and preserves the voice from strain.{{Cite journal |date=1934-10-06 |title=Art of Singing Is Viewed as Normal and Natural Process by Adelaide Gescheidt |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_music-magazine-and-musical-courier_1934-10-06_109_4/page/28/mode/2up?q=Adelaide+Gescheidt |journal=Musical Courier |volume=109 |pages=29 |via=Internet Archive}}{{Cite journal |date=1942-03-05 |title=Voice Production Crux of Singer's Career, Says Teacher |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_music-magazine-and-musical-courier_1942-03-05_125_5/page/12/mode/2up?q=Adelaide+Gescheidt |journal=Musical Courier |volume=125 |issue=5 |pages=13 |via=Internet Archive}} Her notable students included actress Betty Blythe{{Cite journal |date=June 21, 1923 |title=Betty Blythe to Sing in London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKfkwADf1ToC&dq=Adelaide+Gescheidt&pg=PA582 |journal=The Musical Leader |volume=45 |pages=582}} and oratorio singer Richard Crooks.{{Cite journal |date=December 7, 1922 |title=Laurels for Young Artist |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3m6Bq_7vOWMC&dq=Adelaide+Gescheidt&pg=RA22-PA63 |journal=Musical Courier |volume=85 |pages=63}}
Gescheidt was active in the National Federation of Music Clubs, especially on a committee to promote quality music in film scores.{{Cite news |date=1940-04-10 |title=New Committee to be Headed by Mrs. Kelley |pages=6 |work=The Journal Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104846796/new-committee-to-be-headed-by-mrs/ |access-date=2022-07-02 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Personal life
References
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{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gescheidt, Adelaide}}