Antoinette Garnes Explained

Antoinette Garnes
Birth Date:about 1887
Death Date:July 2, 1938
Death Place:Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Nationality:American
Occupation:Soprano singer, music educator

Antoinette Smythe Garnes (about 1887 – July 2, 1938) was an American soprano singer active in the 1920s.

Education

Antoinette Smythe Garnes was born about 1887, in Detroit. She studied at Detroit Central High School, Detroit Conservatory of Music, Howard University, and Chicago Musical College; at the last institution she studied with Edoardo Sacerdote,[1] earned a bachelor of music degree in 1919,[2] and was the college's first black winner of the Alexander Revell diamond medal.[3] [4] She also played violin and piano. She earned a master of music degree from Chicago Musical College in 1920.[5]

Career

In 1923 Garnes was the only African American member of the Chicago Grand Opera Company.[6] She was a member of the Chicago Opera Association.[7] Erma Morris accompanied her for a performance in Detroit.[8] She sang at a meeting of the NAACP in Chicago in 1919. Music critic Agnes Beldon noted Garnes's "sterling vocal ability and fine training".[9] Her solo recitals were sponsored by local black women's clubs, and benefited charities such as the Phyllis Wheatley Orphan's Home in Wichita.[10] She performed with Naida McCullough in California in 1932.[11] She also performed at Howard University with Sadie B Davis under the auspices of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.[12]

Garnes taught voice at Lincoln University, Wilberforce University and Hampton Institute.[13] She recorded on Harry Pace's Black Swan Records,[14] [15] and her recording of two arias was promoted as "the first grand opera record ever made by a colored singer."[16] She was given an honorary membership in the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority at the organization's boule (annual meeting) in 1923.[17]

Personal life

Antoinette Smythe Garnes married twice; her first husband was Rev. Dr Theobold Augustus Smythe.[18] She was widowed when he died in Chicago.[19] Her second husband was dentist Harry W. Garnes.[20] [21] She died from liver disease in 1938, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.[22]

Discography

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. December 1, 1922. Second Young Artists' Concert of Chicago Musical College at Orchestra Hall. Music News. 14. 26.
  2. Book: Chicago Musical College. Catalog of the Chicago Musical College. 1911. The College. en.
  3. Phelps. Howard A.. September 1919. Persons of Note. Half-Century Magazine. 7. 9.
  4. August 1919. General Race News. The Half Century Magazine. 7. 15.
  5. News: 1922-07-22. Madam Antoinette Smythe Garnes. 1. The Broad Ax. 2020-06-09. Newspapers.com.
  6. Book: Suisman . David . Selling sounds : the commercial revolution in American music . 2009 . Harvard University Press . 9780674033375 . 227 . 14 April 2020.
  7. July 14, 1922. Antoinette Garnes in Song Recital. Music News. 14. 23.
  8. Web site: Musical program featuring Antoinette Garnes presented by the Detroit Study Club | DPL DAMS. Detroit Public Library Digital Collections.
  9. Beldon. Agnes. August 4, 1922. Chicago Musical College. Music News. 14. 4.
  10. News: 1922-01-06. Antoinette Garnes, Lyric Soprano. 1. The Negro Star. 2020-06-09. Newspapers.com.
  11. News: August 17, 1932. Soprano to Give Half Hour at U. C.. 5. Daily Gazette. June 9, 2020. NewspaperArchive.com.
  12. February 5, 1909 . Alpha Kappa Alpha Presents Miss Virginia Moore . Howard University Journal . 6 . 15 . 1.
  13. Web site: Antoinette Garnes. 2020-06-09. Discogs. en.
  14. July 1922. Black Swan Records: July Releases (advertisement). The Crisis. 24. 139.
  15. Book: Kenney, William Howland. Recorded Music in American Life: The Phonograph and Popular Memory, 1890-1945. 1999-07-08. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-988014-0. en.
  16. Book: Abbott. Lynn. The Original Blues: The Emergence of the Blues in African American Vaudeville. Seroff. Doug. 2017-02-27. Univ. Press of Mississippi. 978-1-4968-1003-8. en.
  17. February 1924. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Boule. Opportunity. 2. 64. Johnson. Charles Spurgeon.
  18. U.S., Newspapers.com™ Marriage Index, 1800s-current
  19. News: 1938-07-02. Mrs. Antoinette Garnes Dies. 13. The Indianapolis News. 2020-06-09. Newspapers.com.
  20. News: September 6, 1919. Madam Antoinette Smythe Garnes.. The Broad Ax . 2. newspapers.com.
  21. News: 1919-09-06. Mrs. Antoinette Smythe Garnes. 2. The Broad Ax. 2020-06-09. Newspapers.com.
  22. News: 1938-06-28. Member Local Colored Teachers Training Group Dies Rather Suddenly. 1. The Democrat-Argus. 2020-06-09. Newspapers.com.

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