| Biography | Elizabeth Dews was a British singer who was born in Wolverhampton in England. Wolverhampton is located not far from Birmingham, and it was in this city Dews received her first musical training. Wwhile still a young student she appeared a performance of Elijah in Birmingham in 1884.
She later studied singing in London under the British tenor and singing teacher William Shakespeare and the Italian composer and teacher Alberto Randegger, both professors at the Royal Academy of Music. In 1891 she made her debut as a concert singer in St. James's Hall, and on the 23 April 1896 she sang with the Royal Choral Society at the Royal Albert Hall in an anniversary performance of Elijah, which marked that it was 50 years since the oratorio was first performed. The conductor of the evening was Sir Alexander Mackenzie and the other soloists were the American soprano Ella Russell, the tenor Lloyd Chandos and Andrew Black.
Dews also sang with the Birmingham Festival Choral Society and the Liverpool Philharmonic and held concerts in Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dublin. She also completed a tour of Germany along with the American soprano Alwina Valleria. |