Devora Nadworney
American opera singer (1895–1948)
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Devora Nadworney (1895 – January 7, 1948) was an American operatic contralto singer.
Devora Nadworney | |
|---|---|
Devora Nadworney, from a 1921 publication | |
| Born | 1895 New York City |
| Died | January 7, 1948 (age 52) New York |
| Occupation | Contralto opera singer |
Early life
Nadworney was born in New York City,[1] the daughter of Russian immigrants. She lived in Bayonne, New Jersey, and attended the Bayonne High School.[1] She went on to attend Hunter College,[1] where she received her B.A.[1] She later taught elementary school[2] while studying music in New York at the Aborn School of Opera.[3] She also studied with Johanna Bayerlee and Estelle Liebling.[4][5] She sang on benefit programs with opera stars during World War I.[1]
In 1921, she won a prize from the Tri-City Convention of the National Federation of Music Clubs.[6][7] A year later, in 1922, she was given the National Prize for Voice.[1]
Career
Nadworney was a contralto singer.[1][8] "Few young contraltos at present before the public can rival the equipment of Devora Nadworney", commented one publication in 1918.[3] She was under the management of Annie Friedberg in 1918,[9] and sang at Liberty Loan fundraisers[10] and gave concerts for the troops stationed near New York City during World War I.[11] She sometimes gave concerts of Russian folk songs while dressed in traditional embroidered costume.[12] She was also popular as a church soloist, in oratorios.[13] In 1921 she made a recording for the Victor Talking Machine Company.[14]
Nadworney had the distinction of being the first singer heard over a radio network in the United States, in 1928.[1] Through the 1920s and into the 1930s she was especially active in radio.[15] 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.[16][8] She was associated with the Chicago Civic Opera from 1925 until at least 1934.[17] In 1943, she was a soloist for the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, in the summer series. [18]
In 1945 she sang at a noon concert at New York City's Town Hall.[19]
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."[20][21]
The National Federation of Music Clubs offers the Devora Nadworney Award for young composers.[22]
