Since receiving this sketch, Madame H. Talbert has been called by the daily press "Bronze Galli Curci," and has received highly commendable letters from Mr. Harry Burleigh and many other high musicians.
Mrs. Corrine Bush-Hicks, the subject of this sketch, was born and educated in the public schools of Walnut Hills, Cincinnati, Ohio. Her mother discovered her musical ability when she was entering her teens, and immediately employed a celebrated vocalist to instruct her daughter, Madame Jennie Jackson Dehart, a former member of the First Fisk Jubilee Singers, whose own voice had been so well trained that she won the title of the "Black Swan." The mother of Miss Bush recognized the value of instruction in voice culture from a teacher whose own voice had been correctly placed. The success of her selection can be judged when it is known that she correctly placed Miss Corrine Bush's voice so that in after years she developed and retained all its qualities as a genuine lyric soprano.
It was while the subject of this sketch was in high school that Mrs. Dehart had the privilege of introducing her pupil to a Miss Henson who, as an advance agent, was in America in search of a soprano voice to join the "Louden Fisk Jubilee Singers." This troop, at the time, was traveling under the personal direction, of Mr. F. J. Louden, the celebrated bass singer. Mrs. Dehart convinced Miss Corrine Bush's parents of the advantage to their daughter of a tour abroad. The young lady signed a contract for a two-year tour through Europe. Her mother, Mrs. Bush, making one demand, that she continue her musical studies abroad under the best teacher available.
Miss Corrine Bush, upon reaching London, England, began the study of vocal music under the daughter of the late celebrated tragedian and writer, Miss Ira Aldridge, who had been named after her father Ira. The reader will readily recall that, notwithstanding his African descent, he was during his day, considered the greatest tragedian of England. During Miss Bush's stay in Europe she sang in all the cities, great and small, of Great Britain, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.
Mrs. Corrine Bush-Hicks has the distinction of having sang before the late Queen Victoria and her royal court, and afterward was again in London and was invited to sing at a memorial for the late Queen. This was held in the Spurgeon Tabernacle of London, England. It was at this time in London, England, she sang before the late S. Coldridge Taylor, whose musical writings have since been pronounced the greatest production of the age, especially his "Hiawatha Wedding Feast." While in England she was frequently asked to personally sing in the homes of titled persons.
The Fisk Singers, after a tour of two years in Europe, returned to the United States, and Miss Corrine Bush, remembering her pledge made some time before, became the wife of Mr. William Hicks, of Salem, Ohio. They immediately moved to Pasadena, California. They have lived there for the past fourteen years. Mrs. Hicks has meant much to the life of the clubs, both white and colored in Pasadena and Los Angeles. She is often invited to sing before these clubs. She sang for a season at the Chautauqua held in Monterey, California.
During the last visit of the late Booker T. Washington to Southern California, the people of Pasadena gave a reception to him in the auditorium of the Pasadena high capacity is rated as over two thousand, and was crowded. Mrs. Corrine Bush-Hicks on this occasion was the soloist. Afterward Mr. Washington personally thanked her for her delightful singing, which he said he thoroughly enjoyed. Notwithstanding all the honors Mrs. Hicks has had heaped upon her, she is as unassuming in telling about her success in singing in grand opera as she is about telling of any other engagement. She has a wonderful and pleasing personality, is quite active in club life and has held many state offices in the Federation of Colored Women's Clubs. At this writing she is an active worker in both the colored and white Red Cross societies of Pasadena.
It is with pleasure that the writer is presenting to the reader the sketch of Miss Marie Hilda Ford, of Pasadena, who was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1895. Her parents moved to Pasadena when she was a year old, where she was reared and educated in the public schools. She was an apt student in music. Her parents, however, insisted that she continue her own study in music, notwithstanding she was capable of and did teach at the age of twelve years. This resulted in Miss Ford later taking a thorough course of several year's study at the Chicago Musical College.
Miss Ford entered this college in the beginning of 1914, and graduated in June 15, 1915, with the following honorable record, and was the only colored girl in the class studying the piano forte: She received a teacher's certificate or diploma with a general average of ninety-seven; piano, ninety-six; concerto, ninety-five; harmony, ninety-six; science of music, ninety-nine; history of music, ninety-seven. Her diploma was signed by President F. Ziegfeld.
