Record

CodeDS/UK/433
NameGauthier; Eva (20 September 1885-December 1958); Canadian American mezzo-soprano and voice teacher
Variations of NameIda Joséphine Phoebe Éva Gauthier
Dates20 September 1885-December 1958
GenderFemale
Place of Birth/OriginOttawa, Ontario, Canada (born)
RelationshipsSpouse if Frans Knoote (Dutch importer and plantation manager) (m.1911)
BiographyÉva Gauthier was a Canadian-American mezzo-soprano and voice teacher. She performed and popularised songs by contemporary composers throughout her career and sang in the American premieres of several works by Erik Satie, Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky, including the title role in the latter's Perséphone.

With Lady Zoé Laurier and Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Lord Strathcona as her patrons, Eva Gauthier initially trained and performed in Europe. She then travelled to Java and for four years immersed herself in its native music, which she introduced to North American audiences on her return. She retired from performing in 1937, and opened a voice studio in New York, where she became a founding member of the American Guild of Musical Artists and served on its board of governors. Gauthier was praised for the many qualities her singing brought to music. The citation from the Campion Society of San Francisco, which she received in 1949, said: "...her rare open-mindedness and unorthodox enthusiasm having been initially responsible for the recognition of many vital and important modern composers".

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