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Myra Mortimer

Myra Mortimer was an American contralto singer with an international career in the 1920s.

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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 nameMyra 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, Washington12 and raised in Butte, Montana,34 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.89 She sang in Los Angeles, Spokane and Tacoma in March 1926.101112

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 1928.1617

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 source ↗

Mortimer lived and taught voice in London through the 1930s.1819 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

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. "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. "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.