Hizi Koyke
{{short description|Japanese singer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Hizi Koyke
| image = HiziKoyke1928.png
| alt = A young Japanese woman, smiling, with dark hair center parted and dressed back to the nape.
| caption = Hizi Koyke, from a 1928 newspaper.
| other_names =
| birth_name = Koike Hisako
| birth_date = 1902
| birth_place = Tokyo
| death_date = September 1991
| death_place = New York
| occupation = Singer, opera director
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives = Fortune Gallo (father-in-law)
}}
Hizi Koyke (1902 – September 1991), born Koike Hisako, was a Japanese singer based in the United States.
Early life
Koike Hisako was born in Tokyo, the daughter of a glass manufacturer. Her mother died in childbirth.{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1881686870}} |title=Many American customs absurd, Says Japanese Prima Donna, Who praises Our Freedom And Self-Expression |newspaper=Cincinnati Enquirer |date=7 September 1930 |page=87 }} Her parents were converts to Christianity and she attended a Methodist missionary school.{{Cite news|date=1938-11-11|title=Missionary Discovered Hizi Koyke's Voice|pages=24|work=The Boston Globe|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60382606/missionary-discovered-hizi-koykes-voice/|access-date=2020-10-02|via=Newspapers.com}} She convinced her father to let her leave the country, and an American doctor and his wife took her on as a foster child.{{Cite book |last=Parsons |first=Charles |title=A celebration of Cincinnati opera |year=2007 |pages=40}} The couple took her to Canada, then moved to New York in 1923{{Cite news|date=1935-09-10|title=Star Notes Revival of Grand Opera|pages=6|work=Star-Phoenix|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60381689/star-notes-revival-of-grand-opera/|access-date=2020-10-02|via=Newspapers.com}} so she could attend Columbia University to train as a teacher.{{Cite news|last=Swan|first=Gilbert|date=1931-05-15|title=It's Cherry Blossom Time on Broadway|pages=9|work=Messenger-Inquirer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60382523/its-cherry-blossom-time-on/|access-date=2020-10-02|via=Newspapers.com}} While in New York, she took voice lessons with Edythe Magee, and attended the Metropolitan Opera to learn more about Western opera.{{Cite web|last=Robinson|first=Greg|date=September 12, 2019|title=The Great Unknown and the Unknown Great: Hizi Koyke: Dramatic soprano|url=https://www.nichibei.org/2019/09/the-great-unknown-and-the-unknown-great-hizi-koyke-dramatic-soprano/|access-date=2020-10-02|website=Nichi Bei}}
Career
Koyke was nearly always cast in Asian roles, especially as Yum-Yum in The Mikado,{{Cite news|date=1931-05-05|title='The Mikado'; Hizi Koyke a Hit in Revival at Erlanger's|pages=21|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60381973/the-mikado-hizi-koyke-a-hit-in/|access-date=2020-10-02|via=Newspapers.com}} and with the San Carlo Opera Company{{Cite news|date=1928-11-18|title=Noguchi Memorial Programs Singer of Far-Away East|pages=69|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60383024/noguchi-memorial-programs-singer-of/|access-date=2020-10-02|via=Newspapers.com}} as Cio-Cio-San in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, a role she studied under Tamaki Miura.{{cite journal |last1=Yoshihara |first1=Mari |title=The Flight of the Japanese Butterfly: Orientalism, Nationalism, and Performances of Japanese Womanhood |journal=American Quarterly |date=2004 |volume=56 |issue=4 |pages=975–1001 |doi=10.1353/aq.2004.0067 |jstor=40068292 |s2cid=145288396 }}{{Cite book|last=Phillips-Matz|first=Mary Jane|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q2mkpHd0ZuwC&q=Hizi+Koyke&pg=PA129|title=Puccini: A Biography|date=2002-10-03|publisher=UPNE|isbn=978-1-55553-530-8|pages=129|language=en}} She made her New York debut in 1927, in David Belasco's Madame Butterfly,{{cite news |title=JAPANESE SOPRANO HAILED IN DEBUT; Hizi Koyke Sings Finely Madame Butterfly in the San Carlo Company's Production. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/11/10/archives/japanese-soprano-hailed-in-debut-hizi-koyke-sings-finely-madame.html |work=The New York Times |date=10 November 1927 }} and continued playing in productions of that show for several years, across the United States and Canada.{{Cite news|last=Goldenburg|first=William Smith|date=1929-07-23|title=High Artistry is Reaffirmed by Gifted Japanese Singer in 'Madame Butterfly' Role|pages=2|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60381424/high-artistry-is-reaffirmed-by-gifted/|access-date=2020-10-02|via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news |title=5,000 HEAR 'BUTTERFLY.'; Hizi Koyke and Others Receive Ovation at Hippodrome. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/12/09/archives/5000-hear-butterfly-hizi-koyke-and-others-receive-ovation-at.html |work=The New York Times |date=9 December 1934 }} For added authenticity, she designed her own costumes.{{Cite news|date=1931-06-21|title=Singer Makes Own Costumes|pages=21|work=Arizona Daily Star|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60382706/singer-makes-own-costumes/|access-date=2020-10-02|via=Newspapers.com}} She also appeared in Mascagni's Iris (1930), The Geisha (1931),{{Cite news|last=Allen|first=Kelcey|date=October 9, 1931|title=Jas. T. Powers Again Sparkles In Revival Of 'The Geisha' By Aborn: The Cast|pages=13, 23|work=Women's Wear Daily }}{{cite news |title='The Geisha' Tinkles Again. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/10/06/archives/the-geisha-tinkles-again.html |work=The New York Times |date=6 October 1931 }} and Leoni's L'Oracolo (1937). She gave recitals{{cite news |title=JAPANESE SOPRANO SINGS.; Hizi Koyke Displays a Rich; Vibrant Voice in Recital at Barbizon. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/11/07/archives/japanese-soprano-sings-hizi-koyke-displays-a-rich-vibrant-voice-in.html |work=The New York Times |date=7 November 1929 }}{{Cite news|date=1940-09-02|title=Hizi Koyke in Recital; Soprano Heard at the Chase Barn Theatre, Whitefield, N.H.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/09/02/archives/hizi-koyke-in-recital-soprano-heard-at-the-chase-barn-theatre.html|access-date=2020-10-02|issn=0362-4331}} and sang on radio through the 1930s. "Koyke is Butterfly," commented critic Samuel T. Wilson in 1932, "not merely because of her nationality but because she is a fine singer, a most talented actress, and, in the best sense of the word, an artist."{{Cite news|last1=Leighton|first1=George A.|last2=Wilson|first2=Samuel T.|date=1932-07-27|title=Perennial Meets Favor|pages=5|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60381800/perennial-meets-favorgeorge-a/|access-date=2020-10-02|via=Newspapers.com}}
Koyke's career was interrupted by the attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States' entry into World War II, when a Japanese singer and shows with Japanese themes were not welcomed by American audiences. She didn't perform during the war. She was monitored by the FBI but did not spend time in a Japanese internment camp.{{Cite book |last=Department of Justice. Claims Division. (1/1/1934 - 1953) |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1090444 |title=Japanese Internee Card for Hisako Koike or Mrs. Edward M.Gallo |date=1941–1947 |series=Series: World War II Japanese Internee Cards, 1790 - 2002}} She resumed her singing after the war, returning to her signature role{{Cite book|last=Lee|first=Josephine D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0rY6uT68JKIC&q=Hizi+Koyke&pg=PA188|title=The Japan of Pure Invention: Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado|publisher=U of Minnesota Press|isbn=978-1-4529-1526-5|pages=188|language=en}} in Madame Butterfly in 1946.{{Cite news|date=1946-08-04|title=Hizi Koyke|pages=63|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60381605/hizi-koyke/|access-date=2020-10-02|via=Newspapers.com}} She sang in Butterfly until at least 1950,{{Cite news|last=Cassidy|first=Claudia|date=1950-03-18|title=Hizi Koyke Indisposed and Unable to Rescue an Ailing 'Butterfly'|pages=14|work=Chicago Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60383658/hizi-koyke-indisposed-and-unable-to/|access-date=2020-10-02|via=Newspapers.com}} and retired from the stage in 1955, but continued working in opera as a director with the Chicago Lyric Opera. She was the stage director for Maria Callas' 1955 performance of Butterfly. She was featured in a 1964 educational program about opera on a Texas public television station, aimed at schoolchildren who would be attending an opera in Dallas.{{Cite magazine|date=November 21, 1964|title=KRLD-TV Opera Series|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QCAEAAAAMBAJ&q=Hizi+Koyke&pg=PA16|magazine=Billboard|pages=16}}
Personal life
Koyke married fellow singer Harald Hansen in 1932; they divorced in 1940 after he was discovered cheating on her.{{Cite news|date=1940-07-02|title=Hizi Koyke, Jap Opera Singer, Wins Divorce|pages=3|work=Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60383491/hizi-koyke-jap-opera-singer-wins/|access-date=2020-10-02|via=Newspapers.com}} She married again to Edward Mario Gallo, son of opera producer Fortune Gallo.{{Cite news|date=1947-04-20|title='Butterfly' Hovers Close to Real Life|pages=49|work=The Des Moines Register|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60383791/butterfly-hovers-close-to-real-life/|access-date=2020-10-02|via=Newspapers.com}} She died in New York in 1991.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=6767282}}
- {{IBDB name|id=48446}}
{{Subject bar|portal1=Biography}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Koyke, Hizi}}