Tecla Vigna

Tecla Vigna was born at Savigliano in northern Italy, and studied music at the Conservatory of Milan, where she earned her diploma in 1879.^[1] She trained with voice teacher Francesco Lamperti.^[2]

Vigna, a contralto, performed roles in opera in several Italy cities^[3] before being recruited by pianist Albino Gorno to the faculty of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in 1882.^[4] Vigna wrote a text, 90 Daily Vocal Exercises (1894), published while she was teaching at the conservatory. After years of contentious disagreements with the school's administration,^[5] she resigned from the college in 1906,^[6] and soon she was teaching at her own school.^[7][8] Her vocal method was described as "distinctly Italian, and distinctly modern, and dramatic in the very best sense of the term."^[1] Her students gave well-reviewed recitals and were active in the Euterpe Society of Cincinnati.^[9][4]

Vigna became an American citizen in 1920.^[10] In ill health, she closed her school and retired in 1925,^[11][12] and moved back to Milan, where she died in 1927.^[13] In 1932, one of her American students visited her grave in Milan, and left a bouquet of gardenias in tribute.^[14]