Mary Ellen Christian

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Mary Ellen Christian (* 1848 in Canada ; † 1941 ) was an Australian singer ( alto ) and singing teacher.

Life

Christian grew up in Woolwich, England , where he sang in the choir of St Mary Magdalene Church of England . In 1866 she went on a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London , where she studied singing with Manuel Patricio Rodríguez García . After completing her training, she began a career as a singer and went to Australia in 1871. In Melbourne she sang in the Philharmonic Society and the Melbourne German Liedertafel Association and founded the Christian Concert Company . She toured Australia with the group, which was managed by Robert Sparrow Smythe .

With Smythe, who married the singer Amelia Bailey in 1881 , she had an illegitimate son, who was born in 1874. In 1875 she resumed her concert activities. She made a number of performances in New Zealand and gave singing lessons at the Presbyterian Ladies' College in Melbourne; during this time she also taught Nellie Melba . In 1879 and 1881 she went on concert tours through England with her sister, the pianist Emely Christian . From 1884 she lived with her sister again in Australia and gave concerts with her in Melbourne, Hobart and New Zealand. With the English baritone Charles Santley she performed in Sydney Town Hall in 1889 .

In 1894 Christian ended her career as a singer and joined the congregation of the Sisters of Charity in Sydney as sister Mary Paul of the Cross . As Sister Mary Paul of the Cross, she began teaching at St Vincent's College in 1895 . She made the college an examination center for the Royal College of Music and the only school in New South Wales to hold official music exams. In 1897 she founded her own music school, known since 1905 as the Garcia School . She taught at both institutions until her death in 1941.

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