Marie Decca

Marie Decca was the stage name of Mary Smith ( Johnston; after first marriage, Chrisman; after second marriage, Smith; 1859 – unknown), an American lyric soprano operatic singer. She became known as the "Jenny Lind of America". Loomis described her voice as having the remarkable range of three octaves, reaching to the phenomenal pitch of A natural in alt, while Willard & Livermore (1893) described her as a soprano of flexible and remarkable range, reaching F natural, with exquisite tone and strength.

Early life and education Mary Sanders Johnston was born in Georgetown, Ohio. In December 1889 she was a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Arthur Nikisch for the grand opening of Lincoln Music Hall in Washington, D.C. Her first appearance in Boston, on February 5, 1891, at the Operatic Festival in the Music Hall, was also a triumph, the press being unanimous in enthusiastic admiration of Decca's wonderful execution. she was successful at the great Chautauqua Assembly in 1891, receiving the beautiful "Chautauqua Salute" from ten thousand people. Since then, she was engaged by the leading Chautauqua assemblies all over the U.S. Decca accompanied the United States Marine Band on its concert tour through the country in 1891. She accompanied them again in 1892 on their Western tour, and created a furor in every city, her reception on the Pacific Coast being a continuous ovation.

Personal life On January 27, 1892, she married Francis Leon Chrisman, newspaper correspondent. They met in 1891 at Chautauqua Lake, when Chrisman was reporting the Assembly proceedings for a New York paper, and Decca was engaged in singing for the attendees.

After divorcing Mr. Chrisman, she married secondly, on April 23, 1896, Charles McCauley Smith. They had a daughter, Marie Marchesi Smith.