Ellen Hartla Faull (14 October 1918 – 2 December 2008) was an American operatic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

and voice teacher.Stabler, David
"Ellen Faul: Singer, Teacher, Inspiration"
''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

'', 9 December 2008Cummings, David M.
Faull, Ellen
''International Who's Who in Music'', Routledge, 2000, p. 193. Born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, she was primarily associated with

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through its 2013 bankruptcy, and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, dubbed "the peopl ...

, where she sang from 1947 until 1978 and created the role of Abigail Borden in

Jack Beeson Jack Hamilton Beeson (July 15, 1921 – June 6, 2010) was an American composer. He was known particularly for his operas, the best known of which are '' Lizzie Borden'', ''Hello Out There!'', and ''The Sweet Bye and Bye''. Early life Born in Munc ...

's opera ''

Lizzie Borden Lizzie Andrew Borden (July 19, 1860 – June 1, 1927) was an American woman who was Trial, tried and Acquittal, acquitted of the August 4, 1892 axe murders of her Patricide, father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. No one else was c ...

'' in its 1965 world premiere. After her retirement from the opera stage, she taught singing at

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...

, the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

and the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

and later privately at her home in Camas, Washington.

Biography

Ellen Faull was born in

to a working-class family. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, she and her brothers and sisters went door-to-door selling their mother's home-baked bread to bring in extra money. She showed an early talent for singing and while still a teenager, her teacher introduced her to the conductor Eugene Ormandy who let her use his private box for all of the Philadelphia Orchestra's concerts. She went on to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and later in New York City. As an opera singer, she sang throughout the United States and occasionally in Europe, but she was primarily associated with

. She made her debut there in 1947 as Donna Anna in the company's first production of ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...

'' and continued to sing leading roles with the company until 1978. Her final performance there was as Abigail in

's ''

'', a role she had created in the opera's world premiere in 1965. As a recitalist, Faull was a champion of contemporary American composers.

Ned Rorem Ned Miller Rorem (October 23, 1923 – November 18, 2022) was an American composer of contemporary classical music and a writer. Best known for his art songs, which number over 500, Rorem was considered the leading American of his time writing i ...

once described her voice as "a cloud of peridot chiffon", and she sang in the world premieres of several of his works, including the 1957 premiere of ''The Poet's Requiem'' for soprano, chorus and orchestra. Following her retirement from the stage, she taught singing for many years at the

and the

. She also had a voice studio in the apartment on

Central Park West Eighth Avenue is a major north–south avenue on the west side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic below 59th Street. It is one of the original avenues of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 to run the length of Manhattan, ...

in New York City which she shared with her husband, Maurice Gordon, a psychiatrist who died in 1987.Gallivan, Joseph,
"Opera star turned teacher celebrates a long life in song"
''

Portland Tribune The ''Portland Tribune'' is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is part of the Pamplin Media Group, which publishes a number of community newspapers in the Portland metropolitan area. Launched i ...

'', 1 December 2006 When she moved to the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

in 1990 to be near her daughter, she taught singing both privately and at

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...

's Bel Canto Northwest Vocal Institute, a summer program which she founded in 1992 with Ruth Dobson, a former voice professor at Portland State. She continued to teach singers at her home in Camas, Washington right up until her death in 2008 at the age of 90. Amongst her many students were Dawn Upshaw, Gianna Rolandi, Youngok Shin, Audra McDonald, Ashley Putnam, Beverly Hoch,

Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano singer and actress. Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, she made ...

, Gwen Verdon and Veronica Villarroel.'' Opera News''
"Ellen Faull, 90, Acclaimed City Opera Soprano For More Than Three Decades, Has Died"
4 December 2008Kellow, Brian
"Under Her Spell"
''Opera News'', November 1999

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faull, Ellen 1918 births 2008 deaths American operatic sopranos Curtis Institute of Music alumni Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Juilliard School faculty Sarah Lawrence College faculty Manhattan School of Music faculty Portland State University faculty Musicians from Pittsburgh Singers from Pennsylvania 20th-century American women opera singers Classical musicians from Pennsylvania American music educators American women music educators American women academics 21st-century American women