Florence Page Kimball (April 26, 1888 – November 24, 1977) was an American

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 ...

who became a celebrated

voice teacher A voice teacher or singing teacher is a musical instructor who assists adults and children in the development of their abilities in singing. Typical work A voice teacher works with a student singer to improve the various skills involved in sing ...

at 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 ...

where she taught for 46 years. She taught hundreds of students, and many of her pupils had successful performance careers. Her most famous student was soprano

Leontyne Price Leontyne Price ( born Mary Violet Leontine Price February 10, 1927) is an American spinto soprano who was the first African-American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera. ...

. As a soprano Kimball was primarily active as a recitalist. In 1929 she performed

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, recei ...

arias in a touring

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

production.

Life and career

Born in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, Utah, Kimball was educated at a boarding school before going to Paris to study singing with Sarah Robinson‐Duff, the teacher of

Mary Garden Mary Garden (20 February 1874 – 3 January 1967) was a Scottish-American operatic lyric soprano, then mezzo-soprano, with a substantial career in France and America in the first third of the 20th century. She spent the latter part of her chil ...

, and Frank King Clark. She later studied the piano with Mary Alport, Carlo Buonamici and

Arthur Shepherd Arthur Shepherd (February 19, 1880 – January 12, 1958) was an American composer and conductor in the 20th century. Life and career Shepherd was born in Paris, Idaho, into a Mormon family. His family loved to sing and his father, William N. B ...

in the United States. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

she entertained American and French troops as a member of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

's Over There League. While in France she was awarded the

Ordre national du Mérite The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...

in 1917 for her volunteer musical service during the war. In 1919 she assisted in taking care of refugee children in

Soissons Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital ...

, France. In the 1920s, Kimball moved back to America to study singing with

Marcella Sembrich Prakseda Marcelina Kochańska (February 15, 1858 – January 11, 1935), known professionally as Marcella Sembrich, was a Polish dramatic coloratura soprano. She is known for her extensive range of two and a half octaves, precise intonation, ch ...

at the

in New York City. In 1927 Kimball replaced Sembrich at Juilliard when she retired. Kimball continued to teach at Juilliard until her retirement 45 years later in 1972. She had hundreds of voice students during her tenure; many of whom had successful careers, including:

Annamary Dickey Annamary Dickey (April 9, 1911 – June 1, 1999), also known as Annamary Dickey Laue, was an American soprano and actress in operas, operettas, musicals, night clubs, and concerts who had an active performance career from the 1930s through the 1 ...

, Martha Flowers, Sung Sook Lee,

Jean Madeira Jean Madeira, née Jean Browning (November 14, 1918 – July 11, 1972) was an American contralto, particularly known for her work in late-romantic German repertoire such as the operas of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. Madeira was born in Ch ...

, Joyce Mathis, Mariquita Moll,

Regina Sarfaty Regina Sarfaty (November 1934 – December 23, 2024), later Regina Sarfaty Rickless after her marriage to Elwood A. Rickless in 1963, was an American operatic mezzo-soprano who had an active career during the 1950s through the 1980s. Sarfaty first ...

, Nigi Sato, Wilma Shakesneider and Veronica Tyler. Notably among her students is Patrica Carey, mother and vocal teacher to Mariah Carey. Her most famous pupil was

whom she began teaching in 1949. Price developed an extremely close relationship to Kimball, and her teacher continued to work closely with her on preparing her roles for the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

; even helping her select her costumes and think through stage movements in addition to working on the music material. In a 1983 interview, Price stated of her association with Florence Kimball:

It was the most important relationship of my life. Like sex it was pure chemistry... She told me there was an innate quality of dignity in my voice, and that I moved like I sounded.

Kimball continued to perform periodically while teaching. She made her New York debut on December 3, 1925, at Aeolian Hall while studying with Sembrich. During her years as a teacher at Juilliard she also gave recitals at The Town Hall and made recital tours. In 1929 she starred in the Cal Levance Show, a vaudeville-style production featuring multiple kinds of entertainments including Kimball performing Verdi arias, which started in Chicago and then toured to other cities including a stop at the

Cincinnati Music Hall Music Hall, commonly known as Cincinnati Music Hall, is a classical music performance hall in Cincinnati, Ohio, completed in 1878. It serves as the home for the Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Opera, May Festiva ...

. Kimball died at

Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers (also known as Saint Vincent's or SVCMC) was a healthcare system in New York City, anchored by its flagship hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan. St. Vincent's was founded in 1849 and was a majo ...

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

at the age of 87. She was a friend of composer

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor (music), conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the mid-20th century. Principally influenced ...

, who dedicated his choral work "To Be Sung on the Water" (1968) to her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kimball, Florence 1888 births 1977 deaths American operatic sopranos Juilliard School alumni Juilliard School faculty Musicians from Salt Lake City Recipients of the Ordre national du Mérite American vaudeville performers American voice teachers