Myra Mortimer

Myra Mortimer
A white woman with dark bobbed hair, wearing a dark translucent dress with a deep-v neckline, and a strand of beads or pearls
Myra Mortimer, from a 1927 publication
BornMarch 26, 1894
Spokane, Washington, U.S.
DiedJanuary 29, 1972 (aged 77)
New York, New York, U.S.
Other namesMyra Mortimer Pinter
OccupationContralto singer

Myra Mortimer (March 26, 1894 – January 29, 1972) was an American contralto singer with an international career in the 1920s.

Early life and education

Mortimer was born in Spokane, Washington[1][2] and raised in Butte, Montana,[3][4] the daughter of Daniel Mortimer and Dora Angie Munson Mortimer.[5] Her father was a journalist.[6] She initially trained as a pianist in Cleveland, but a hand injury turned her attention to singing.[7]

Career

Mortimer was a contralto who specialized in German lieder.[3] She toured in Europe in 1925.[6] In January 1926, she made her American debut in Boston.[8][9] She sang in Los Angeles, Spokane and Tacoma in March 1926.[10][11][12]

Mortimer toured again in Europe in 1927, and gave recitals at Town Hall and Carnegie Hall.[13] The New York Times described Mortimer's voice as "one of dramatic capabilities, range and power, with lighter lyric moments."[14] She was a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the 1927–1928 season.[15] She sang with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and in Bridgeport, Connecticut, before returning to Europe for most of 1928.[16][17]

Jan van Goyen. "Sandy Road with a Farmhouse" (MET, 1972.25), a Dutch painting donated by Myra Mortimer Pinter to the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Mortimer lived and taught voice in London through the 1930s.[18][19] She volunteered for air raid warden service in New York City in 1941.[20]

Publications

  • "Analyzing Audiences in Many Lands" (1927)[21]

Personal life

Mortimer was nearly six feet tall.[22] She married her instructor, Willem Giesen, in 1925, in London.[23] She married Austrian businessman Frederick R. Pinter in 1932, also in London.[24] She died in 1972, at the age of 77, in New York City.[25]

References

  1. ^ "Myra Mortimer" Pacific Coast Musician (September 24, 1927): 6.
  2. ^ "Singer is Visitor Here After 27 Years". The Spokesman-Review. 1938-10-27. p. 8. Retrieved 2025-07-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b "Myra Mortimer, Lieder Singer". The Musical Forecast: 12. March 1926.
  4. ^ "Artists Produced by Butte". The Anaconda Standard. 1916-12-10. p. 21. Retrieved 2025-07-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Myra Mortimer Holds Music Center of World; German Critics Amazed". The Butte Daily Post. 1925-11-07. p. 8. Retrieved 2025-07-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b "Butte Vocalist Scores in Berlin; Myra Mortimer is Received with Open Arms by Germans. Critics Praise". The Anaconda Standard. 1925-10-04. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-07-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Girl's Career Altered by Accident". Pasadena Star-News. 1926-03-24. p. 23. Retrieved 2025-07-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Boston Transcript Lauds Myra Mortimer Concert". The Butte Daily Post. 1926-01-30. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
  9. ^ "Myra Mortimer Will Make 1st American Appearance in Boston, on January 23". The Butte Daily Post. 1926-01-16. p. 16. Retrieved 2025-07-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Native Songbirds Meet Here". The Los Angeles Times. 1926-03-24. p. 21. Retrieved 2025-07-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Myra Mortimer Coming; New Contralto Star Will Sing Here March 11". The Sunday Oregonian. 1926-02-28. p. 20. Retrieved 2025-07-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Myra Mortimer, Dramatic Soprano, in Concert Mar. 8". The Tacoma Daily Ledger. 1926-03-07. p. 62. Retrieved 2025-07-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Myra Mortimer Returns; Contralto Adds to the Good Impression Previously Made Here". The New York Times. 1927-11-08. p. 32. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
  14. ^ "Myra Mortimer in Song Recital". The New York Times. 1927-02-03. p. 18. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
  15. ^ "Philharmonic Orchestra Season 1927-1928". Pacific Coast Musician. 16 (43): 2. October 22, 1927.
  16. ^ "Mortimer's Last Appearances". The Musical Leader: 12. January 26, 1928.
  17. ^ Pierre Key's Music Year Book: The Standard Music Annual. Pierre Key, Incorporated. 1928. p. 551.
  18. ^ "Former Butte Girl Writes About Bombings in London". The Montana Standard. 1940-09-08. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-07-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Mrs. Frederick Pinter, Former Butte Girl, is Visiting from London". The Montana Standard. 1938-10-24. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-07-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Clerk and Cleric; All Want to Aid". The Plain Dealer. 1941-06-21. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-07-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Mortimer, Myra. "Analyzing Audiences in Many Lands" The Musician (October 1927): 35.
  22. ^ "Native Songbirds Meet Here". The Los Angeles Times. 1926-03-24. p. 21. Retrieved 2025-07-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Willem Giesen a Benedict". The Huntsville Times. 1925-05-04. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-07-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Myra Mortimer Weds Austrian in London". Times Herald. 1932-04-26. p. 22. Retrieved 2025-07-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Jan van Goyen - Sandy Road with a Farmhouse". PubHist. Archived from the original on 2025-03-25. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
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