Harriet Bacon MacDonald
Harriet Bacon MacDonald | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | November 24, 1865 Hyannis, Massachusetts |
| Died | October 11, 1935 Dallas, Texas |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, educator, impresaria, conductor |
Harriet Bacon MacDonald (November 24, 1865 – October 11, 1935) was an American musician, impresaria and conductor, based in Dallas, Texas.
Early life
[edit]MacDonald was born in Hyannis, Massachusetts, the daughter of Nathaniel Bacon III and Cornelia W. Sherman Bacon.[1] She began piano studies in Boston under James M. Tracy, and pursued further training in Europe.[2]
Career
[edit]MacDonald was a professional accompanist in Europe and the United States.[3] She was a founding member of the Norma Trio, and toured with Constance Balfour's concert company.[4] In 1910, she opened a piano studio in Dallas. She taught music classes according to the Dunning system,[5][6] and held leadership positions in the Texas Music Teachers' Association.[7][8] She also taught classes on the Dunning system to teachers[9] in Cleveland,[10] Chicago,[11] Albuquerque, New Mexico,[12] and Little Rock, Arkansas.[13]
MacDonald conducted concerts of the Dallas Schubert Club,[14] and organized concerts by European and American musical acts, including Albert Spalding,[15] Rosa Ponselle, Mischa Elman,[16] Sergei Rachmaninoff and John Philips Sousa.[2] She faced financial difficulties during the Great Depression, and stopped organizing and promoting concerts in 1934.[17][18]
Personal life
[edit]Harriet Bacon MacDonald married James R. Saville. She died in 1935, aged 69 years. Her widower donated her papers, including correspondence, photographs, and theatrical ephemera, to Southern Methodist University soon after her death.[2] There is another box of her photographs at the Fort Worth Public Library Archives.[19]
References
[edit]- ^ International Who's who in Music and Musical Gazetteer. Current Literature Publishing Company. 1918. p. 390.
- ^ a b c Harriet Bacon MacDonald papers, McCord/Renshaw Collection on the Performing Arts, Jerry Bywaters Special Collections, Hamon Arts Library, Southern Methodist University.
- ^ The Musical Blue Book of America. Musical Blue Book Corporation. 1919. p. 72.
- ^ "The Constance Balfour Concert Co". Shawnee News-Herald. 1909-11-27. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-08-25 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Watt, Charles E. (February 27, 1920). "Harriet Bacon MacDonald and the Dunning System". Music News. 12: 36.
- ^ "Harriet Bacon MacDonald's Dunning Classes". Musical Courier. 83: 39. September 1, 1921.
- ^ "Texas Teachers to Work for Unification of School Music". Musical America. 26: 5. June 2, 1917.
- ^ "Music Teachers of Texas to Meet Dallas Nov. 29-30". Corsicana Daily Sun. 1930-10-29. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-08-25 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Harriet MacDonald Finds Dunning Classes in Demand". The Musical Leader. 43: 369. April 13, 1922.
- ^ "Mrs. MacDonald Teaching in Cleveland". Musical Courier. 87: 27. July 26, 1923.
- ^ "Dallas Manager Leaves". Musical America. 26: 28. July 7, 1917.
- ^ "Society". Albuquerque Journal. 1924-10-21. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-08-25 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Harriet Bacon MacDonald in New York". The Huntsville Times. 1926-09-05. p. 15. Retrieved 2020-08-25 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Harriet Bacon MacDonald". Fort Worth Public Library Digital Archives. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
- ^ "Albert Spalding, Violinist, to Give Concert in Dallas". The Waco News-Tribune. 1929-01-13. p. 24. Retrieved 2020-08-25 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Mrs. MacDonald Honored at Tea Here on Friday". Waco Tribune-Herald. 1933-09-17. p. 14. Retrieved 2020-08-25 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Big Dallas Crowd Again is Absent from Concert; Singer Walks Out". Abilene Reporter-News. 1934-05-24. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-08-25 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Whitesitt, Linda (Summer 1989). "The Role of Women Impresarios in American Concert Life, 1871-1933". American Music. 7 (2): 178. doi:10.2307/3052201. JSTOR 3052201.
- ^ "MacDonald, Harriet Bacon, 1914". The Fort Worth Library Local History Archives and Genealogy Collection. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
