Whitney Myron (William)
Whitney Myron (William)
Whitney, Myron (William), esteemed American bass; b. Ashby Mass., Sept. 5, 1836; d. Sandwich, Mass., Sept. 19, 1910. He was a pupil of E. H. Frost in Boston, and made his debut there at the Tremont Temple as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah (Dec. 25, 1858). He sang throughout New England during the next 10 years and then pursued training with Vannucini in Florence and Randegger in London. He sang regularly in opera as well as oratorio in the U.S. from 1873. He toured with the Theodore Thomas Orch. (1878-82) and appeared frequently with the Boston Ideal Opera Co. (1879-1900); he also was a member of the American Opera Co. (1885-86). He was generally considered the leading American oratorio artist of his day. His son, Myron Whitney Jr. (1872-1954), a baritone, traveled as joint artist with Melba and Nordica. He also taught singing at the New England Cons. of Music in Boston.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire