Ada Kent

LRAM
A white woman with light hair in a bouffant updo
Ada Twohy, later Kent, from a 1913 publication
Born
Ada Jane Fairlane Twohy

8 February 1888
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Died23 July 1969 (aged 81)
London, U.K.
Occupation(s)Musician, composer, music educator

Ada Twohy Kent (8 February 1888 – 23 July 1969) was a Canadian musician, composer, and music educator. She was described as "probably Canada's most successful woman composer" in a 1943 profile.[1]

Early life and education

Ada Jane Fairlane Twohy[2] was born in Denver, Colorado, the daughter of William Humphrey Twohy and Ada Lutz Twohy. Her parents were both Canadian. Her piano teachers included J. E. P. Aldous and A. S. Vogt. She earned a bachelor's degree in music at the University of Toronto in 1906, at age 18,[3][4] and an LRAM from the Royal Academy of Music in London.[5][6]

Career

Kent was a pianist and composer from her teens, and a music educator. In Hamilton, Ontario, she was a church organist beginning in her teens,[4] and taught at the Hamilton School of Music. She was also a church organist in Toronto, where she taught at the Toronto Conservatory of Music, and at Moulton Ladies' College. She toured as accompanist for the Canadian Mendelssohn Choir.[7] In 1938, she gave a recital of her own works at London's Wigmore Hall.[8] She gave a similar program in 1939, at the Prince Edward Hotel in Windsor.[9][10]

Kent composed works for piano, violin, and voice,[11] and wrote several books of songs for children.[12] She often used texts by Canadian writers as the lyrics of her songs.[13] "Ada Twohy Kent has the precious gift of melodic sense," wrote a reviewer in 1937, about her first book of songs. "There's a simple vigor and often a lyric enchantment in these songs that entirely ignores sad or gloomy suggestions."[14]

Publications

  • Sing a Song of Canada (1937, with Charlotte McCoy and Anne Sutherland Brooks)[14]
  • "16 Variations on an English Theme"
  • "No Flower So Fair" (1940)
  • Let's Pretend and Thirty Other Songs for Children (1943)[1]
  • Tip Toe Tunes for Tiny Tots (1952)

Personal life

Ada Twohy married William George Kent in 1918.[2] They had two children. Her husband died in 1955,[2] and she died in 1969, at the age of 81, in London.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 Turnbull, Isabel (1943-10-09). "Woman Composer". The Windsor Star. p. 15. Retrieved 2024-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 3 "Kent-Twohy". Owen Sound Sun. 1918-10-22. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "Remarkable Success; Miss Ada Twohy Has Become a Bachelor of Music". The Hamilton Spectator. 1906-06-04. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 "Ada Twohy Kent Musicale Guest". The Hamilton Spectator. 1953-12-11. p. 8. Retrieved 2024-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Miss Ada Twohy" The Conservatory Bi-Monthly 12(2)(February 1913): 44-45. via Internet Archive.
  6. ↑ "Piano Recital". The Hamilton Spectator. 1905-11-10. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ Armstrong, Isabel C. (1937-12-04). "A Thing of Utmost Importance To a Country to Have Own Art". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 14. Retrieved 2024-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Ross, William (1938-06-18). "Former Ottawa Musician Reviews Canadian Pianist-Composer's Recital". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 18. Retrieved 2024-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Mrs. Ada Twohy Kent Guest Artist at Opening Session". The Windsor Star. 1939-10-10. p. 17. Retrieved 2024-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Composer Here Wednesday". The Windsor Star. 1939-10-09. p. 11. Retrieved 2024-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Render Canadian Music". The Toronto Star. 1937-11-16. p. 20. Retrieved 2024-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. 1 2 Wardrop, Patricia (July 10, 2007). "Ada Kent". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  13. ↑ "Mrs. Matthews to Attend Ada Twohy Kent's Recital". The Toronto Star. 1938-10-18. p. 22. Retrieved 2024-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. 1 2 "Songs for Children New Book Creation". The Toronto Star. 1937-12-18. p. 16. Retrieved 2024-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
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