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| {{Infobox person | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| | name = Ada Cherry Kearton | |||
| | image = Ada Cherry Kearton (Ada Forrest).jpg | |||
| | alt = | |||
| ⚫ | | caption = Autographed portrait of Ada Kearton c. 1910 | ||
| | birth_name = Ada Forrest | |||
| | birth_date = {{Birth date|1877|07|17|df=yes}} | |||
| | birth_place = Congella, ], South Africa | |||
| | death_date = {{Death date and age|1966|01|19|1877|07|17}} | |||
| | death_place = London, UK | |||
| | nationality = | |||
| | education = ] | |||
| | occupation = Opera and concert singer | |||
| | spouse = ] | |||
| }} | |||
| '''Ada Cherry Kearton''' (born '''Ada Forrest''') (17 July 1877 – 19 January 1966) was a South African ] opera and concert singer. | '''Ada Cherry Kearton''' (born '''Ada Forrest''') (17 July 1877 – 19 January 1966) was a South African ] opera and concert singer. | ||
Revision as of 12:24, 27 July 2014
| Ada Cherry Kearton | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Autographed portrait of Ada Kearton c. 1910 | |
| Born | Ada Forrest (1877-07-17)17 July 1877 Congella, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa |
| Died | January 19, 1966(1966-01-19) (aged 88) London, UK |
| Education | Royal Academy of Music |
| Occupation(s) | Opera and concert singer |
| Spouse | Cherry Kearton |
Ada Cherry Kearton (born Ada Forrest) (17 July 1877 – 19 January 1966) was a South African soprano opera and concert singer.
Life and career
Kearton was born in Congella, a settlement near Durban in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. She received her first nstruction in singing at her convent school in Durban and made her first public appearance at the South African Eisteddfod in Durban when she was 14. She went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London and subsequently studied under Charles Santley, Pietro Neri-Baraldi, and Henry Wood. She made her London debut on 24 May 1907, at the Empire Day Concert in Queen's Hall. England was to become her home, although she returned to South Africa several times to perform, including a concert tour 1909.
She appeared numerous times in the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts between 1909 and 1915. During the course of her career she appeared in many other concerts and recital halls in England and Scotland, including a solo recital at London's Wigmore Hall in November 1918, where she sang 17th-century songs by William Lawes and Thomas Morley and modern settings of Tennyson's poems. The Wigmore performance did not impress Ezra Pound who wrote a scathing review for The New Age: "As Morley and Lawes scarcely preserved a trace of their beauties in the path of her assault, I fled before she began singing modern settings of Tennyson."
She made a last recital tour in South Africa 1921 before retiring from the concert stage. She changed her name from Ada Forrest to Ada Cherry Kearton in 1922, upon marrying the wildlife photographer Cherry Kearton (his second marriage) and then "devoted her life to her husband and his work". The couple had a chimpanzee named Mary who lived with them for six years as "one of the Kearton family". The Keartons were said to have taught Mary to write her name and play three musical instruments. According to the Brisbane Courier-Mail, the chimpanzee would sit and sew with Ada for an hour at a time and accompanied the couple on many of their travels. Ada Kearton's autobiography, On Safari, about their travels together through Africa, Australia and New Zealand, was published in 1956, and she appeared as a "castaway" on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs on 8 October 1956.
Cherry Kearton died in 1940. Ada died in London in 1966 at the age of 88.
Bibliography
- Kearton, Ada Cherry (1956). On Safari. Robert Hale.
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References
- ^ "Museum & Collections: Forrest, Ada". Royal Academy of Music. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
- Wyndham, Henry Saxe (1913). Who's Who in Music. Small, Maynard & Co. p. 83.
- "Ada Forrest performances in the Proms archive". BBC Online. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
- Pound, Ezra (2008). Ezra Pound and Music: The Complete Criticism. New Directions Publishing. p. 148. ISBN 0811217841.
- ^ "Woman Singer Who Turned Explorer". The Courier-Mail. 2 January 1936. p. 16. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
- "Cherry Kearton Books". Retrieved 25 July 2014.
- "Desert Island Discs - Castaway : Ada Cherry Kearton". BBC Online. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2014.