| Biography | Mary Davies (27 February 1855 - 22 June 1930) was a Welsh mezzo-soprano and the co-founder and first President of the Welsh Folk Song Society. The wife of journalist William Cadwaladr Davies, she was principal vocalist at the London Ballad Concerts, and at the National Eisteddfod of 1906.
Born in Africa, she was the daughter of Egyptian parents. She studied singing with Edith Wynne before winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in 1873 where she was a pupil of Alberto Randegger. That same year she made her professional debut. In 1880 she sang in England's first complete performance of Hector Berliozs La damnation de Faust at the Hallé Concerts, Manchester.
Davies helped to establish the Welsh National School of Music. She received an honorary doctorate from the University of Wales. |