The Edison phonograph monthly (Jan-Dec 1916)

EDISON PHONOGRAPH MONTHLY, OCTOBER, 1916 13 Who's Who in the Blue Amberol List for November BETSY LANE SHEPHERD, SOPRANO BETSY LANE SHEPHERD, a young American soprano who recently has come into much prominence through her splendid work in concert and oratorio singing and whose portrait appears on the front cover of this issue, was born in Pennsylvania and her musical training has all been secured in this country. Gifted with a beautiful natural voice and a talent for musical expression, she commenced her studies at the Wyoming Seminary at Kingston, Pa. Later she entered Syracuse University, continuing her studies in music at the College of Fine Arts connected with that institution. For the past several years she has been located in New York where she has been a pupil of Frank La Forge and Sergei Klibausky. She is soprano soloist in the Calvary Methodist Church of New York. Mrs. Shepherd has a voice that is wonderful in strength, range and purity of tone. She seems to be equally skilled in the rendition of dramatic, lyric and sentimental songs. She can interpret the most classical productions of Brahms in a way to delight the most critical audience ; but, at the same time, she can give a rendition of some folk song or old favorite so appealingly that it at once becomes a classic. Perfect voice control and a musical discernment that makes her judgment in matching song and expression unerring, are among the qualities that make her singing always delightful. GLADYS RICE, SOPRANO Gladys Rice, whose splendid so prano has created a strong deman for her records, is a Philadelphiai and was educated at "Ivy Hall,' Bridgeton, N. J. While very young she displayed a natural aptitude for music and she was given the best advantages that New York could afford. Among her teachers was Karl Breneman, a pupil of the renowned Sibulga. Her professional debut was made at the Palace Theatre in New York and it was marked by great success. Her dramatic ability inclined her toward the stage and she has appeared in both dramatic and musical stock. Her voice is a clear and sweet soprano and her numbers are rendered with the expression and sentiment that only may be found in the renditions of singers who have had stage experience in addition to thorough musical educations. On the November list of Blue Amberols Miss Rice sings "Good-Bye, Good Luck, God Bless You," the famous production of Ernest Ball, in duet with Walter Van Brunt. Superbly rendered by both singers, it makes a most attractive number. ARTHUR COLLINS, BARITONE It is like re-introducing an old friend to tell Edison owners anything about Arthur Collins, for his name is familiar wherever the phonograph is known. Descended from a long line of Quakers, he naturally had to be born in Philadelphia. He received his early musical education under the direction of his mother, who was a fine singer. Although Mr. Collins is best known as a mimic and a singer of popular songs, he is a thoroughly educated musician and he had devoted much time and energy to the careful development of his splendid baritone voice. He has been very successful in operatic work and sang in "Wang" with De Wolf Hopper and in "The Lion Tamer" with Francis Wilson. There is a continual demand for his services and his phonograph activities represent only a small part of the work he has done along musical lines. For manv years he has been the singing partner of Byron G. Harlan and the team name of Collins and Harlan is better known than either of the individual names. BYRON G. HARLAN, TENOR Byron G. Harlan, one of the best known of Edison singers, was born in Kansas, but the greater part of his boyhood was spent in South Dakota. It was not until he was twenty-four years old that he went to Chicago and studied music and it was in that city that he commenced his stage career, securing an engagement with an opera company. After gaining valuable theatrical experience by his appearances in opera, he accepted a part with Otis Harlan in "A Texas Steer." Later he became a producer and had a company of his own. His singing of "coon" and "rag' songs gained him much renown and when the phonograph came into general use he became an Edison artist. A favorite to begin with, he has retained his popularity during all the years he has been making records. Perhaps his most prominent quality is his ability to render topical songs in a spontaneous and enthusiastic manner that is distinctive and characteristic, an art possessed by very few singers.