Florence Kimball

Florence Page Kimball (April 26, 1888 – November 24, 1977 ) was an American soprano who became a celebrated voice teacher at the Juilliard School where she taught for 46 years. She taught hundreds of students, and many of her pupils had successful performance careers. Her most famous student was soprano Leontyne Price. As a soprano Kimball was primarily active as a recitalist. In 1929 she performed Verdi arias in a touring vaudeville production.

Life and career Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Kimball was educated at a boarding school before going to Paris to study singing with Sarah Robinson‐Duff, the teacher of Mary Garden, and Frank King Clark. While in France she was awarded the Ordre national du Mérite in 1917 for her volunteer musical service during the war. In 1919 she assisted in taking care of refugee children in Soissons, France.

In the 1920s, Kimball moved back to America to study singing with Marcella Sembrich at the Juilliard School in New York City. In 1927 Kimball replaced Sembrich at Juilliard when she retired.

Kimball continued to perform periodically while teaching. She made her New York debut on December 3, 1925, at Aeolian Hall while studying with Sembrich. During her years as a teacher at Juilliard she also gave recitals at The Town Hall and made recital tours.

Kimball died at Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers in Greenwich Village at the age of 87. She was a friend of composer Samuel Barber, who dedicated his choral work "To Be Sung on the Water" (1968) to her.