Amanda Swenson

Amanda Swenson (1852 – January 11, 1919) was a Swedish-born American soprano singer and teacher. A member of the Swedish Ladies' Quartette as a young woman, she was a voice teacher in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. where her Ladies' Chorus won the Eisteddfods.

Biography Amanda Carlsson was born in Nyköping, near Stockholm, Sweden, in 1852. Her parents were Anders Carlsson and Margreta Larsdotter Carlsson.

When fourteen years old, her possession of a rare voice was discovered by her friends. Her mother was a widow in moderate circumstances, with seven children to support, and there was little hope of her receiving a musical education.

Career Sweden A few years after graduation, at the suggestion of her former teacher, Prof. Julius Günther, she accepted the position of first soprano in the Swedish Ladies' Quartette, then arranging for its tour. On the eve of departure, a farewell concert and banquet, given in her honor, showed the esteem in which she was held by her native town. Giving their first concert with great success in Stockholm, the quartette started on their tour June 7, 1875. Their route lay through Norway, Nortland, and Finland, then to Saint Petersburg, where they remained three months, giving public and private concerts and meeting many European celebrities. They spent two months in Moscow, receiving cordial welcome and entertainment. They visited Germany, Bohemia, Holland, and Belgium, spending the summer on the Rhine. At Ems, they met some Americans, who persuaded them to visit the U.S. carried off the grand prize at the Eisteddfod in Denver, Colorado.

At the first Eisteddfod held in Salt Lake, the chorus was awarded first prize, and at the second and third Eisteddfods held in Salt Lake, her singers each carried off the highest honors. Interment was in Mount Olivet cemetery.