Sarah Robinson-Duff

Sarah Robinson-Duff (May 1, 1868 – May 11, 1934) was an American operatic soprano and celebrated voice teacher of many important opera singers, including Mary Garden and Alice Nielsen. She wrote the vocal pedagogy book Simple Truths Used by Great Singers which was based in the tradition of Robinson-Duff's teacher, Mathilde Marchesi. She is considered one of the most important American voice teachers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Robinson-Duff was the daughter of Henry K. Robinson and his wife Frances Robinson (née McClintock). She was a descendant of John Robinson (1576–1625), the pastor of the "Pilgrim Fathers" before they left on the Mayflower. They also had two sons: Roden Robinson-Duff, a physician in Chicago, and Jay Robinson-Duff, a trader on the New York Stock exchange. In 1890 she performed in recital with her students at Central Music Hall. In 1897 she relocated to Paris, and celebrated the turn of the century at a party held by Horace Porter, United States Ambassador to France, and his wife. She taught singing in Paris for 22 years. Her other successful students included contralto Jessie Bartlett Davis; sopranos Frieda Hempel, Mary McCormic, Alice Nielsen, and Marcia Van Dresser; mezzo-sopranos Olive Fremstad and Fanchon H. Thompson; and vaudeville star Nora Bayes.