Anna Hamlin
{{short description|American singer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Anna Hamlin
| image = AnnaHamlin1927.png
| alt = A white woman wearing a costume including a wig and a long print gown in 18th-century style
| caption = Anna Hamlin in costume, from a 1927 publication
| birth_name = Anna Mary Hamlin
| birth_date = September 10, 1898
| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
| death_date = May 24, 1988 (aged 89)
| death_place = New York, New York, U.S.
| other_names =
| occupation = Opera singer, voice teacher
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| parents = George Hamlin
| relatives =
}}
Anna Hamlin (September 10, 1898Some sources give 1900 as Hamlin's birth year; her Cook County birth certificate shows the date 10 September 1898; this matches her age (11) in the 1910 U.S. federal census, and her 1966 claim for Social Security; all via Ancestry. – May 24, 1988) was an American soprano singer associated with the Chicago Civic Opera Company. From 1939 to 1959, she was a professor of voice at Smith College, and "widely known as one of the most distinguished of voice teachers".{{Cite news |date=1956-10-21 |title=Many Vocalists Taught in Italy by Anna Hamlin; Professional Singers Return to her for Instruction |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-union-many-vocalists-taught/162429926/ |access-date=2025-01-06 |work=The Morning Union |pages=56 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Early life and education
Hamlin was born in Chicago, the daughter of George Hamlin and Harriet Rebecca Eldredge Hamlin. Her father was a noted tenor singer.{{Cite journal |date=November 21, 1929 |title=Anna Hamlin a Charming Artist |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ipKs5E5E6cQC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22Anna%20Hamlin%22&pg=RA20-PA8#v=onepage&q=%22Anna%20Hamlin%22&f=false |journal=The Musical Leader |volume=57 |issue=21 |pages=8}} She studied voice with Marcella Sembrich.{{Cite web |title=Lamperti Tradition |url=https://www.belcantovocalstudio.co.uk/lamperti-tradition |access-date=2025-01-06 |website=BCVS |language=en}}
Career
Hamlin was a lyric soprano who appeared in opera roles and gave recitals.[https://books.google.com/books?id=SqGTi4fXSlMC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Agnes%20Leist%20Beebe&pg=RA4-PA44#v=onepage&q&f=false "Anna Hamlin"] The Music News 19(January 28, 1927): 44. With the Chicago Civic Opera she played the Page in Masked Ball in 1927.{{Cite journal |date=December 1927 |title=Anna Hamlin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RDv3lp04x8gC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22Anna%20Hamlin%22%20%22voice%22&pg=RA17-PA36#v=onepage&q=%22Anna%20Hamlin%22%20%22voice%22&f=false |journal=Music Magazine |volume=2 |issue=17 |pages=36}} In 1928, she was a soloist at the Adirondack Music Festival{{Cite journal |date=December 1928 |title=Adirondack Music Festival |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ixzlAAAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22Anna%20Hamlin%22%20%22voice%22&pg=PA20#v=onepage&q=%22Anna%20Hamlin%22%20%22voice%22&f=false |journal=The New Music Review |volume=28 |issue=325 |pages=20}} and sang in Monte Carlo.{{Cite journal |date=August 4, 1928 |title=Anna Hamlin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nnzbgM6lBW0C&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22Anna%20Hamlin%22%20%22voice%22&pg=RA4-PA15#v=onepage&q=%22Anna%20Hamlin%22%20%22voice%22&f=false |journal=Musical America |volume=48 |pages=15}} Composer Amy Beach dedicated a song to Hamlin.{{Cite book |last=Block |first=Adrienne Fried |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VU0muD_oz44C&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&lpg=PA254&dq=%22Anna%20Hamlin%22%20%22voice%22&pg=PA254#v=onepage&q=%22Anna%20Hamlin%22%20%22voice%22&f=false |title=Amy Beach, Passionate Victorian: The Life and Work of an American Composer, 1867-1944 |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-513784-2 |pages=254 |language=en}} In 1931, she gave a recital in Cincinnati, including a song by local composer Louise Snodgrass.{{Cite news |date=1930-03-09 |title=Music Notes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-cincinnati-enquirer-music-notes/162429629/ |access-date=2025-01-06 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=68 |via=Newspapers.com}} She sang on radio in the 1930s.{{Cite news |last=Rogers |first=Ernest |date=1935-12-19 |title=Anna Hamlin in 'Music Hall' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-journal-anna-hamlin-in-musi/162432890/ |access-date=2025-01-06 |work=The Atlanta Journal |pages=31 |via=Newspapers.com}}
From 1939 to 1959, Hamlin was a music professor at Smith College.{{Cite news |date=1959-05-31 |title=Anna Hamlin Resigns at Smith Vocal Teacher |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-union-anna-hamlin-resigns-at/162431391/ |access-date=2025-01-06 |work=The Morning Union |pages=49 |via=Newspapers.com}} She conducted summer master classes in Milan in 1956.{{Cite news |last=Clark |first=Willard M. |date=1956-06-03 |title=Second Thoughts on Music |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-union-second-thoughts-on-mus/162429408/ |access-date=2025-01-06 |work=The Morning Union |pages=32 |via=Newspapers.com}} Her students included Judith Raskin,{{Cite web |title=Collection: Judith Raskin papers |url=https://findingaids.smith.edu/repositories/2/resources/976 |access-date=2025-01-06 |website=Smith College Finding Aids}}{{Cite news |title=Judith Raskin: Her Heart's in Recitals |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1981/05/15/120641.html|date=May 15, 1981 |last=Rothstein |first=Edward |access-date=2025-01-06 |work=The New York Times |language=en |issn=0362-4331}} music professor Lynn Clarke Meyers,{{Cite web |title=Lynn Clarke Meyers Donates Spanish Song Collection |url=https://brookcenter.gc.cuny.edu/2010/04/13/lynn-clarke-meyers-donates-spanish-song-collection/ |access-date=2025-01-06 |website=The Brook Center}} Lucy Kelston, Daniel Ferro, Nico Castel, and actress Jane White.{{Cite web |title=Collection: Jane White papers |url=https://findingaids.smith.edu/repositories/2/resources/542 |access-date=2025-01-06 |website=Smith College Finding Aids }} In retirement she wrote a memoir, Father was a Tenor (1978).{{Cite news |date=1958-11-09 |title=Book of Memoirs is Being Written by Anna Hamlin |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-union-book-of-memoirs-is-bei/162431178/ |access-date=2025-01-06 |work=The Morning Union |pages=65 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Publications
Personal life and legacy
Hamlin died in 1988, at the age of 89, in a New York City nursing home. Her memorial service was held in a recital space at Carnegie Hall.{{Cite news |last=Heise |first=Kenan |date=1988-06-09 |title=Anna Hamlin, singer and voice instructor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-anna-hamlin-singer-and/162430790/ |access-date=2025-01-06 |work=Chicago Tribune |pages=36 |via=Newspapers.com}} The George and Anna Hamlin Papers, including her diaries and concert programs, are in the collection of the New York Public Library.{{Cite web |title=George and Anna Hamlin papers |url=https://archives.nypl.org/mus/22301 |access-date=2025-01-06 |website=New York Public Library Archives and Manuscripts}}
References
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Category:Smith College faculty
Category:American opera singers
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