Bina Addy Explained

Bina Addy
Birth Place:Calcutta
Death Date:1962
Nationality:Indian
Other Names:Bini Addy
Occupation:singer

Bina Addy (born 13 Jan 1894, died 1962), also seen as Bini Addy, was an Indian singer of popular Bengali and western songs.

Early life

Bina Addy was from Calcutta, from a Bengali Christian family; two of her brothers became college professors.[1] Her voice first attracted notice in a church choir in Calcutta. She studied music in Europe after 1928, with Elena Gerhardt in Leipzig and Mario Cotogni in Rome.[2]

Career

Addy was considered a mezzo-soprano or contralto singer.[3] [4] She was promoted as the first Indian woman to study Western music in Europe,[5] and the first to become a professional singer touring internationally.[6] [7] She performed on BBC radio broadcasts between 1929 and 1932.[8] [9] In 1931, the League of Nations Union in Croydon held a reception for Addy, where she performed.[10]

Addy sang in concerts, on radio, and at benefits for the YWCA and other organizations, in Australia and New Zealand in the 1930s.[11] [12] She was involved in the centenary celebrations in South Australia in 1936.[13] Her programs were mainly Bengali songs, including works by Rabindranath Tagore,[14] but she sometimes included British folk songs, African-American spirituals, Italian arias, and German lieder.[15] She also gave short talks during her programs, about Gandhi, Tagore, and other Indian topics. She was often accompanied by women musicians. "Her technique is assured and well-founded, and with this she associates an impressive sense of style," noted one Australian critic in 1937.[16]

"It is my sincere desire to create a better understanding between my country and other nations," she told an interviewer in 1937, "and if I could feel that I had in any way provided a link between the East and the West, I should be content."

Notes and References

  1. News: Education in India; Increasingly Popular Among Wealthy People. 9 March 1937. News. 24 November 2019. 8. Trove.
  2. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-680059182/view?sectionId=nla.obj-710929041&partId=nla.obj-680089053#page/n66/mode/1up "Bina Addy Indian Contralto to Tour A. B. C."
  3. News: Indian Songstress in London; Miss Bina Addy's Work in England. 30 June 1932. Malaya Tribune. 24 November 2019. 10. NewspaperSG.
  4. Book: Fifield, Christopher. Ibbs and Tillett: The Rise and Fall of a Musical Empire. 2017-11-22. Routledge. 978-1-351-12572-7. en.
  5. News: An Indian Singer; Miss Bina Addy's Recital at Rutland House. E. B.. 19 January 1931. The Guardian. 24 November 2019. 11. Newspapers.com.
  6. News: Miss Bina Addy; 'At Home' in Concert Chamber. 24 June 1936. Evening Star. 24 November 2019. 15. Papers Past.
  7. News: Talented Bengalese Vocalist; Miss Bina Addy at Savoy. 11 July 1936. Evening Star. 25 November 2019. 19. Papers Past.
  8. News: Bina W. Addy (Mezzo-Soprano). 1929-09-13. The Radio Times. 2019-11-25. 311. 42. en-GB. 0033-8060.
  9. News: The Gershom Parkington Quintet. 1931-11-27. The Radio Times. 2019-11-25. 426. 70. en-GB. 0033-8060.
  10. Web site: The original Croydon Peace Festival: the town's 'peace weeks' in 1930 and 1934. Creighton. Sean. 2018-08-29. The Croydon Citizen. en-US. 2019-11-25.
  11. News: Miss Bina Addy; Drawing Room Recital. 20 June 1936. Otago Daily Times. 24 November 2019. 22. Papers Past.
  12. News: Miss Bini Addy, A Bengalese Singer. 18 May 1936. Auckland Star. 25 November 2019. 11. NewspaperArchive.com.
  13. News: Indian Singer Aids our Centenary. 2 May 1936. Adelaide News. 25 November 2019. 1. NewspaperArchive.com.
  14. News: From India; Mezzo-Contralto to Broadcast. 21 January 1937. The Sydney Morning Herald. 24 November 2019. 20. Newspapers.com.
  15. News: Bina Addy to Assist Y. W. C. A. Fund. 5 May 1937. The Advertiser. 24 November 2019. 11. Trove.
  16. News: Recital of Indian Songs. 12 February 1937. The Courier-Mail. 24 November 2019. 15. Trove.

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