Enya Gonzalez
A young Asian woman wearing a box cap and a high-collared tailored jacket.
Enya Gonzalez, from a 1940 newspaper.
BornFebruary 26, 1915
Baliuag, Bulacan
DiedDecember 1982
New York
Other namesEnya Beabout (after marriage)
OccupationSinger
Years active1930s-1950s

Enya Gonzalez (February 26, 1915 – December 1982) was an opera singer from the Philippines.

Early life

Enya Gonzalez was from Baliuag, Bulacan, the daughter of Luis González and Pilar Garcia. Her father was a tenor singer.[1] She studied at the Philippine Women's University.[2] Her brother Edgardo González was executed as a guerrilla leader during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines.[3]

Career

Gonzalez made her New York debut in 1938, starring in Madama Butterfly with the San Carlo Opera Company,[4] after Hizi Koyke.[5] Later that year she toured giving concerts in the United States and Mexico, and was featured on the cover of Newsweek magazine with the tagline "Enya Gonzalez: A Cio-Cio-San from Manila".[2] She sang at the White House for Franklin Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt,[1] sang on radio in 1939,[6] and toured in the United States and Canada during the 1940–1941 season.[7][8][9] She sang at the Hollywood Bowl in 1941.[10]

During World War II, Gonzalez continued singing in concerts,[11] and joined the USO and toured American army bases in Latin America, Greenland, and Iceland to entertain the troops. In 1944, she sang "Ave Maria" at the Washington, D.C. funeral of Manuel L. Quezon.[2] She resumed her opera career after the war, starring in Madama Butterfly again in New York in 1946.[3][12] She sang the part of the last time in 1954.[2]

Personal life

Enya Gonzalez married Wendell Beabout. They had two children, Charles and Wendy.[2] She became an American citizen in 1949. She died in 1982, in New York. Her grave is with her husband's, in Long Island National Cemetery.

References

  1. 1 2 "Enya Gonzalez Had Modest Start in American Music". The Havre Daily News. 1942-04-23. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-10-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Gloria, Gaby C. "The Bold Soprano". Positively Filipino | Online Magazine for Filipinos in the Diaspora. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  3. 1 2 "ENYA GONZALEZ TO SING; Filipino Soprano to Resume Career Interrupted by War". The New York Times. 1946-05-22. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  4. ↑ "BUTTERFLY' VEHICLE FOR YOUNG ARTISTS; Enya Gonzales, Manila Soprano, and James Melton Heard". The New York Times. 1938-09-23. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  5. ↑ Robinson, Greg. "The Great Unknown and the Unknown Great: Hizi Koyke, Dramatic Soprano" Nichi Bei (September 12, 2019).
  6. ↑ "Dial Twists". The Evening Sun. 1939-07-27. p. 15. Retrieved 2020-10-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Here for Opera". Chicago Tribune. 1940-10-26. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-10-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "In Concert Here". Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. 1940-11-29. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-10-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Celebrity Artists". The Winnipeg Tribune. 1940-11-02. p. 19. Retrieved 2020-10-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Symphonies Under Stars Season to Open Tonight". The Los Angeles Times. 1941-07-08. p. 19. Retrieved 2020-10-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Enya Gonzalez to Sing Here Next Tuesday". Burlington Daily News. 1942-11-07. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-10-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Enya Gonzalez". Playbill. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
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