Devora Nadworney
{{short description|American opera singer (1895–1948)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Devora Nadworney
| image = DevoraNadworney1921.png
| alt = A young woman with olive skin and short dark hair cut into a bob with bangs
| caption = Devora Nadworney, from a 1921 publication
| birth_date = 1895
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date = January 7, 1948 (age 52)
| death_place = New York
| occupation = Contralto opera singer
}}
Devora Nadworney (1895 – January 7, 1948) was an American operatic contralto singer.
Early life
Nadworney was born in New York City,[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22733217/devora_nadworney_1928/ "Devora Nadworney Has Distinct Honor"] Morning Call (December 29, 1928): 20. via Newspapers.com. Accessed 25 March 2020. {{open access}} the daughter of Russian immigrants. She lived in Bayonne, New Jersey, and attended the Bayonne High School. She went on to attend Hunter College, where she received her B.A. She later taught elementary school[https://books.google.com/books?id=3mdUAAAAYAAJ&dq=Devora+Nadworney&pg=PA217 "Appointments – Elementary Schools"] School (January 29, 1914): 217. while studying music in New York at the Aborn School of Opera.[https://books.google.com/books?id=qUc0AQAAMAAJ&dq=Devora+Nadworney&pg=PA174 "Long List of Promising Singers in Personnel of Aborn Opera Classes"] Musical America (August 31, 1918): 32. She also studied with Johanna Bayerlee and Estelle Liebling.[https://books.google.com/books?id=6GhFAQAAMAAJ&dq=Devora+Nadworney&pg=RA16-PA16 "Artist from the Bayerlee Studio Wins Great Success"] Music News (April 28, 1922): 16.{{cite thesis|title=Estelle Liebling: An exploration of her pedagogical principles as an extension and elaboration of the Marchesi method, including a survey of her music and editing for coloratura soprano and other voices|first=Alandra|last=Dean Fowler|year=1994|type=PhD|publisher=University of Arizona}} She sang on benefit programs with opera stars during World War I.
In 1921, she won a prize from the Tri-City Convention of the National Federation of Music Clubs.[https://books.google.com/books?id=pjg_AQAAMAAJ&dq=Devora%20Nadworney&pg=RA25-PA32 "Mme. Bayerlee's Pupil is Prize Winner in Federation Contest"] Musical America (June 25, 1921): 32.[https://books.google.com/books?id=pjg_AQAAMAAJ&q=Nadworney&pg=RA25-PA2 "Winners of Contests Sponsored by Music Clubs Show Real Talent"] Musical America (June 25, 1921): 2. A year later, in 1922, she was given the National Prize for Voice.
Career
File:JohannaBayerleeDevoraNadworney1921.png
Nadworney was a contralto singer.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22733357/devora_nadworney_1926/ "Cast for Grand Opera 'Aida' From KSD Tomorrow Night"] St. Louis Post-Dispatch (October 31, 1926): 61. via Newspapers.com. Accessed 25 March 2020. {{open access}} "Few young contraltos at present before the public can rival the equipment of Devora Nadworney", commented one publication in 1918. She was under the management of Annie Friedberg in 1918,[https://books.google.com/books?id=qUc0AQAAMAAJ&dq=Devora+Nadworney&pg=RA10-PA29 "Devora Nadworny Under Management of Annie Friedberg"] Musical America (July 13, 1918): 29. and sang at Liberty Loan fundraisers[https://books.google.com/books?id=L19FAQAAMAAJ&dq=Devora+Nadworney&pg=PA392 "Give War Service"] Musical Leader (October 24, 1918): 392. and gave concerts for the troops stationed near New York City during World War I.[https://books.google.com/books?id=qUc0AQAAMAAJ&dq=Devora+Nadworney&pg=PA61 "Devora Nadworney Sings at Camp Concerts"] Musical America (August 10, 1918): 25. She sometimes gave concerts of Russian folk songs while dressed in traditional embroidered costume.[https://books.google.com/books?id=N-U6AQAAMAAJ&dq=Devora%20Nadworney&pg=RA24-PA52 "Devora Nadworney's Fine Notices"] Musical Courier (December 21, 1922): 52. She was also popular as a church soloist, in oratorios.[https://books.google.com/books?id=Z7qzxK4ZascC&dq=Devora+Nadworney&pg=PA63 "Devora Nadworney: National Prize Winner in N. F. M. C. Contest"] Musical Monitor (November 1921): 63. In 1921 she made a recording for the Victor Talking Machine Company.Discography of American Historical Recordings, [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/talent/detail/15351/Nadworney_Devora_vocalist_soprano_vocal. "Devora Nadworney (vocalist : soprano vocal)"].
Nadworney had the distinction of being the first singer heard over a radio network in the United States, in 1928. Through the 1920s and into the 1930s she was especially active in radio.Victoria Etnier Villamil, [https://books.google.com/books?id=k3165uj1pxUC&dq=Devora+Nadworney&pg=PA16 From Johnson's Kids to Lemonade Opera: The American Classical Singer Comes of Age] (UPNE 2004): 16. {{ISBN|9781555536350}} She sang the lead in Carmen on air in 1925, and Aida in 1926, both with the WEAF Grand Opera Company, under conductor Cesare Sodero.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22732519/devora_nadworney_1925/ "World's Series and Great Array of Super-Concerts on WCAE Radio Schedule"] Pittsburgh Press (October 24, 1925): 84. via Newspapers.com {{open access}} She was associated with the Chicago Civic Opera from 1925 until at least 1934.[https://www.jta.org/1934/05/02/archive/local-jewry-hails-tribute-to-ussishkin "Local Jewry Hails Tribute to Ussishkin"] Jewish Telegraphic Agency (May 2, 1934). In 1943, she was a soloist for the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, in the summer series. {{Cite web |title=Notable Events and Performers |url=https://naumburgconcerts.org/notable-events-and-performers |access-date=2025-02-21 |website=Naumburg Orchestral Concerts |language=en-US}}
In 1945 she sang at a noon concert at New York City's Town Hall."Devora Nadworney Sings at Town Hall" New York Times (October 15, 1945): 24. {{ProQuest| }}
Personal life and legacy
Devora Nadworney married lawyer Herman Spingarn in 1935; and they divorced in 1941. She died in 1948, aged 52 years, in New York. Her obituary listing in Billboard Magazine described her as a "pioneer radio contralto... one of the first singers to perform over radio."[https://books.google.com/books?id=efUDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Devora+Nadworney&pg=PA46 "The Final Curtain"] Billboard Magazine (January 17, 1948): 46."Devora Nadworney" New York Times (January 8, 1948): 25. {{ProQuest| }}
The National Federation of Music Clubs offers the Devora Nadworney Award for young composers.[http://www.scholarshiplibrary.com/wiki/NFMC_Devora_Nadworney_Award NFMC Devora Nadworney Award], Scholarship Library.
References
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Category:American women in World War I
Category:Musicians from Bayonne, New Jersey
Category:20th-century American singers
Category:American operatic contraltos
Category:Singers from New York City
Category:20th-century American women singers