Ada Birdsall Turner Kurtz (January 2, 1878 – January 3, 1947) was an English-born American singer and voice teacher from Philadelphia. She entertained American troops in France and Belgium during World War I, earning the nickname "The Sunshine Lady."
Ada Turner Kurtz | |
|---|---|
 Ada Turner Kurtz, from a 1919 publication | |
| Born | Ada Birdsall Turner January 2, 1878 Stanningley, Yorkshire, U.K. |
| Died | January 3, 1947 (aged 69) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, voice teacher |
Early life and education
editTurner was born in Stanningley, Yorkshire, the daughter of Jotham Harrison Turner and Mary Hannah Birdsall Turner. She moved to Philadelphia as a young child.[1]
Career
editKurtz was a concert soloist and voice teacher in Philadelphia and New York.[2][3] Kurtz was head of the vocal department at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music.[4][5] In 1911, Kurtz sang a YMCA event in Atlantic City.[6] Later that year, she was aboard a hot air balloon, attempting to achieve a women's distance record, when it was tugged by boat up the Delaware River.[7]
During World War I, Kurtz spent a year in France and Belgium[8] with the YMCA, entertaining American troops and acting as an informal chaplain, billed as "the Sunshine Lady".[9][10][11] "Probably no woman in France is better known to the soldiers than Mrs. Ada Turner Kurtz," reported Musical America in early 1919.[12] She taught at a summer training school for church song leaders in Indiana in 1920 and 1921.[13][14] She gave a concert in Indiana in 1922.[15] She taught voice students and gave performances at her own studio in Los Angeles in the 1930s.[16][17][18]
Kurtz's students included Kathryn Meisle[19][20] and gospel singer Homer Rodeheaver.[21][22]
Personal life
editAda Turner married American manufacturer Frederick Gross Kurtz in 1900; they had sons Robert and Allen, and they divorced in the 1910s. She died in 1947, in Los Angeles, at the age of 69.[23]
References
edit- ^ Birthplace and father's name confirmed in passport applications dated August 14, 1918 and July 14, 1924, via Ancestry.
- ^ "Prof. Caveny at the Broadway M.E." Courier-Post. 1907-04-06. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Ada Turner Kurtz Moves Philadelphia Studio" Musical America 44(September 18, 1926): 27.
- ^ Conservatory of Music" (advertisement), Philadelphia Orchestra concert programs, 1917-1918.
- ^ Philadelphia Conservatory of Music (1917). School catalog, 1917-1918. University Libraries University of the Arts (Philadelphia). Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia Conservatory of Music. p. 15.
- ^ "Grand Affair at Y.M.C.A.; Annual New Year's Reception of Association Proves to be a Great Success". Press of Atlantic City. 1911-01-03. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Times, Special to The New York (1911-05-10). "Tug Tows Balloon Adrift; Rope Thrown to Boat When Philadelphia II. Is Becalmed Over the Delaware". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-06-05.
- ^ "Hollywood Singer Speaks in Church". The Register. 1936-12-08. p. 13. Retrieved 2024-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ The Musical Blue Book of America. Musical Blue Book Corporation. 1919. p. 304.
- ^ "Woman in Tribute to Doughboys". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1919-07-25. p. 19. Retrieved 2024-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Coming Coming The Sunshine Lady Madame Ada Turner Kurtz". The Press Herald. 1923-11-16. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Ada Turner Kurtz, a Favorite of Boys in France". Musical America. 29: 41. February 1, 1919 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Ministerial Summer School" New Era Magazine 26(February 1920): 86.
- ^ "Bigger and Better" Herald of Gospel Liberty 113(April 7, 1921): 334.
- ^ "Madame Ada Kurtz to Appear Here in Recital Tomorrow". Anderson Herald. 1922-01-03. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Icelandic Songs Revived Friday". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1931-11-14. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Performance to Open Series". The Los Angeles Times. 1931-09-13. p. 45. Retrieved 2024-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Benefit Music Program Staged". The Register. 1933-07-18. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Winners in National Musical Contest" Musical Courier 71(July 7, 1915): 26.
- ^ "Miss Kathryn Meisle, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania" The Musical Monitor 4(10)(June 1915): 421.
- ^ Mungons, Kevin; Yeo, Douglas (2021-06-15). Homer Rodeheaver and the Rise of the Gospel Music Industry. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-05274-3.
- ^ "Meisle's Voice Teacher Here; Ada Turner Kurtz in Demand for Technic and Repertoire". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1931-07-04. p. 11. Retrieved 2024-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Ada Turner Kurtz in the 1910 U.S. Census, and Ada Kurtz in the California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-1997; via Ancestry.