Opera and Concert Singer. A soprano, she will be rembered for performing the music of 20th Century American composers, particularly Charles Ives. Born Helena Strassburger, she was raised in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. She began her vocal studies prior to attending Ohio's Oberlin Conservatory of Music from which she received an undergraduate degree in 1939 and a master's in 1943. In the early 1940s she made her operatic bow as Anna in Otto Nicolai's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" at the Tanglewood Festival Massachusetts. She worked with young tenor Mario Lanza and conductor Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood, appeared with regional opera companies in Texas, and in 1943 married violinist, conductor, and composer Howard Boatwright (1918-1999) who was to write a number of songs for her. She was to become a noted recitalist over half a century, performing with Erich Leinsdorf, Leopold Stokowski, Zubin Mehta, and others. Mrs. Boatwright appeared with Paul Hindemith's Collegium Musicum, Alfred Mann's Cantata Singers, and in 1963 sang for President Kennedy at the White House. In 1954, accompanied by John Kirkpatrick on the piano, she made the first, and according to many critics still the definitive, complete recording of Charles Ives' "24 Songs". She continued her performing while holding faculty positions at several institutions including Connecticut College, the Eastman School of Music, and Syracuse University. Mrs. Boatwright lived her final years in Fayetteville, New York, continued teaching master classes, and never really 'retired' as she sang in public until past 90 and was still teaching three weeks prior to her death, which occured due to complications from a fall. At her death, some of her records remained in print.
Opera and Concert Singer. A soprano, she will be rembered for performing the music of 20th Century American composers, particularly Charles Ives. Born Helena Strassburger, she was raised in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. She began her vocal studies prior to attending Ohio's Oberlin Conservatory of Music from which she received an undergraduate degree in 1939 and a master's in 1943. In the early 1940s she made her operatic bow as Anna in Otto Nicolai's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" at the Tanglewood Festival Massachusetts. She worked with young tenor Mario Lanza and conductor Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood, appeared with regional opera companies in Texas, and in 1943 married violinist, conductor, and composer Howard Boatwright (1918-1999) who was to write a number of songs for her. She was to become a noted recitalist over half a century, performing with Erich Leinsdorf, Leopold Stokowski, Zubin Mehta, and others. Mrs. Boatwright appeared with Paul Hindemith's Collegium Musicum, Alfred Mann's Cantata Singers, and in 1963 sang for President Kennedy at the White House. In 1954, accompanied by John Kirkpatrick on the piano, she made the first, and according to many critics still the definitive, complete recording of Charles Ives' "24 Songs". She continued her performing while holding faculty positions at several institutions including Connecticut College, the Eastman School of Music, and Syracuse University. Mrs. Boatwright lived her final years in Fayetteville, New York, continued teaching master classes, and never really 'retired' as she sang in public until past 90 and was still teaching three weeks prior to her death, which occured due to complications from a fall. At her death, some of her records remained in print.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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