Louise Homer

American singer
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Also known as: Louise Dilworth Beatty
Quick Facts
Née:
Louise Dilworth Beatty
Born:
April 30, 1871, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.
Died:
May 6, 1947, Winter Park, Fla. (aged 76)
Also Known As:
Louise Dilworth Beatty

Louise Homer (born April 30, 1871, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.—died May 6, 1947, Winter Park, Fla.) was an American opera singer, one of the leading operatic contraltos of the first quarter of the 20th century.

In 1895 she married the composer Sidney Homer. After study in Philadelphia, Boston, and Paris, she made her debut in 1898 in Vichy, Fr., as Leonora in Gaetano Donizetti’s La favorita. She appeared at Covent Garden, London, and at the Royal Opera in Brussels, and from 1900 to 1919 and in 1927 she sang at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. She joined the Civic Opera Company in Chicago (1920–25) and subsequently sang in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

She developed an unusually rich contralto voice and was noted for her roles as Amneris in Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida, Orfeo in Christoph Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, and Dalila in Camille Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila.

USA 2006 - 78th Annual Academy Awards. Closeup of giant Oscar statue at the entrance of the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Hompepage blog 2009, arts and entertainment, film movie hollywood
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