Alyce Fraser Denny Explained

Alyce Fraser Denny
Birth Date:17 October 1896
Birth Place:Georgetown, British Guiana
Death Date:28 June 1988 (age 91)
Death Place:New York, U.S.
Other Names:Alice Fraser, Alice Fraser Robinson, Alyce Fraser Eaton, Alyce Eaton
Occupation:Singer, voice teacher
Known For:"The Songbird of British Guiana"
Relatives:Hamilton Green (cousin)

Alyce Fraser Denny Eaton (28 June 1896 – 17 October 1988) was a singer and voice teacher, known as "the Songbird of British Guiana" (now Guyana).

Early life and education

Fraser was born in Georgetown, British Guiana the daughter of Archibald Fraser.[1] She moved to New York City when she was 18 years old,[2] and studied voice there with Caska Bonds.[3] [4]

Career

Fraser toured as a soprano in the Caribbean, North and South America, and Great Britain.[5] [6] She sang European arias, folk songs, and Black spirituals.[7] "She sang with intelligence and musical sense and seemed to give much pleasure to an enthusiastic audience," commented The Musical Leader about her 1927 performance at New York City's Town Hall venue.[8]

Fraser worked as a church soloist in New York City, and conducted a choir for the United Negro Improvement Association. In 1928, she sang at a screening of Uncle Tom's Cabin in London.[9] In 1930 she pleased an audience in Aberdare by singing a Welsh lullaby, "All Through the Night".[10] In 1932 and 1933 she performed with pianist and singer Amy Gibbons in England and Wales.[11] [12] [13]

Later in life, Fraser taught voice and piano classes in New York City.[14]

Personal life and legacy

Fraser married three times. She was married to Arthur F. Robinson, railroad cook from Barbados, in 1918. She married a Georgetown official, James Sydney Denny, in 1933, in a ceremony described as "the most impressive in the history of British Guiana", requiring a significant police presence to manage the crowds of onlookers.[15] She was a widow by 1949, and remarried in 1953 to Detroit businessman William Edward Eaton.[16] In 1986, her cousin Hamilton Green, the prime minister of Guyana, visited her in a nursing home in Hyde Park.[17] She died in 1988, at age 91, in New York. In 1992, a bust of Alyce Fraser was dedicated in the National Cultural Centre in Guyana.

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: 1953-01-29 . Fraser-Eaton Wedding Set . 2024-02-08 . The Daily Item . 17 . Newspapers.com.
  2. News: 1952-10-18 . Teacher Gave Up Career for Love . 2024-02-08 . The New York Age . 11 . Newspapers.com.
  3. October 1927 . Alyce Fraser . Musical Observer . 26 . 10 . 43.
  4. August 25, 1927 . Alyce Fraser in New York Recital . Musical Courier . 95 . 8 . 19 . Internet Archive.
  5. Book: Floyd, Samuel A. . Black music in the Harlem Renaissance : a collection of essays . 1993 . Knoxville : University of Tennessee Press . The Archive of Contemporary Music . 978-0-87049-800-8 . 167.
  6. News: 1929-11-30 . Visit of Miss Alyce Fraser . 2024-02-08 . Cynon Valley Leader . 5 . Newspapers.com.
  7. October 15, 1927 . Alyce Fraser Appears . Musical America . 46 . 26 . 5 . Internet Archive.
  8. October 20, 1927 . Alyce Fraser Sings . The Musical Leader . 53 . 8.
  9. News: 1928-12-28 . Shepherds Bush Pavilion, 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' . 2024-02-08 . Acton Gazette . 8 . Newspapers.com.
  10. News: 1930-10-04 . Song Recital at Aberdare; Return Visit of Miss Alyce Fraser . 2024-02-08 . Cynon Valley Leader . 6 . Newspapers.com.
  11. News: 1932-02-12 . Miss Alyce Fraser at Ashbourne . 2024-02-08 . Ashbourne News Telegraph . 3 . Newspapers.com.
  12. News: 1932-06-04 . Birthday Celebrations; Coloured Soprano Sings at Caerphilly . 2024-02-08 . The Merthyr Express, Aberdare and East Glamorgan Herald, Tredegar and West Monmouth Times . 16 . Newspapers.com.
  13. News: 1933-03-07 . Hull Church Concerts; Enthusiastic Greetings for Miss Alyce Fraser . 2024-02-08 . Hull Daily Mail . 6 . Newspapers.com.
  14. Book: Cambridge, Vibert C. . Musical Life in Guyana: History and Politics of Controlling Creativity . 2015-05-21 . Univ. Press of Mississippi . 978-1-62674-644-2 . en.
  15. News: Guiana Singer is Wed; Mme. Alyce Fraser Becomes Bride of James Denny. 2024-02-08 . The New York Times . en.
  16. News: 1953-01-24 . Spring? It Isn't a Must After Age Jogs Memory . 2024-02-08 . The New York Age . 9 . Newspapers.com.
  17. News: Norton . Kathleen . 1986-04-11 . Guyana prime minister meets cousin in Hyde Park . 2024-02-08 . Poughkeepsie Journal . 1C . Newspapers.com.

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