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Lois Albright
A smiling young woman with light skin and curly dark hair cut in a bob style, wearing a dark lace sleeveless dress and a short strand of chunky dark beads
Lois Albright, from a 1927 publication
BornMay 17, 1904
Elwood, Indiana, U.S.
DiedAugust 26, 1995
Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Occupation(s)Pianist, violinist, singer, composer, conductor

Lois H. Albright Billingsley (May 17, 1904 – August 26, 1995) was an American pianist, violinist, singer, conductor and composer, based in Chicago as a young woman, in Phoenix in midlife, and in New York City in her later years.

Early life and education

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Albright was born in Elwood, Indiana, the daughter of Frank A. Albright and Catherine (Kate) Benefiel Albright. Her father was a minister.[1][2] Her sisters Pearl and Maude were also musical.[3] She began performing music as a teenager.[4] She studied with Sidney Silber, P. Marinus Paulsen, and Louis Luntz.[5][6]

Career

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Albright played both piano and violin in recitals and concerts. After a piano recital in 1927, L. M. Spaulding in The Music News reported that "Miss Albright played with such beauty of expression and masterly technique that she won the keenest attention of her audience."[7] While she was in Chicago, she was active in the Chicago Radio Ensemble, the Chicago Lyric Theater, the Fine Arts Vocal Ensemble, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She was also head of the music department at Harding College for two years.[8]

Albright moved to Arizona with her ailing mother in 1948.[8] She taught voice students and conducted vocal groups from her studio near Mesa.[9] She was a founder and general director of the Phoenix Civic Light Opera Association in 1950,[10] and the Arizona Symphonic Choir in 1955.[11] In 1965, she was the founding director of the Phoenix Oratorio Singers.[12]

Her opera Hopitu, with libretto by her husband Milo W. Billingsley, premiered at Carnegie Hall in 1955, with Albright conducting.[13] The words and music were based on (or inspired by) Hopi chants and legends,[14] and some of the performers were Hopi elders.[15] She toured with the show for several years.[16] She wrote and toured with another opera, Saul and the Medium, in the 1960s.

Later in life, she was based in New York City, where she was conductor and executive director of the Manhattan Opera Singers (MOS);[17] she remained director as the MOS became the Viennese Opera Society.[18]

Compositions

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  • Alleluja (1954)[12]
  • Hopitu (1955, opera)[19]
  • Saul and the Medium (1965, opera)

Personal life

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Albright was distraught over the death of her mother in 1953, and expressed suicidal feelings in a note.[20] Later that year, she married librettist Milo William Billingsley.[21] They divorced in 1967.[22] She became blind around the same time; her vision was restored by surgery in 1979.[18] She died in 1995, at the age of 91, in Phoenix, Arizona.

References

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  1. ^ "Free on Evidence of Lois Albright; Elwood Family Acquitted of Delinquency Charge". The Star Press. 1923-02-16. p. 15. Retrieved 2025-01-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Immorality Charges by Boy Involve Minister, His Wife and Three Daughters". The Buffalo Times. 1923-03-04. p. 38. Retrieved 2025-01-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Miss Pearl Albright Entertained Her Friends". The Call-Leader. 1908-09-04. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-01-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Musical Recital at Thomann Home". The Call-Leader. 1917-05-16. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-01-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Schools and Conservatories" The Musical Observer 24(12)(December 1925): 35.
  6. ^ "Musical Publications Praise Miss Albright". The Call-Leader. 1926-07-22. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-01-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Recital by Lois Albright" Music News 19(April 22, 1927): 17.
  8. ^ a b "Chicago Musician Discovers Phoenix Air is Great Boon to Artists' Vocal Ability". The Arizona Republic. 1948-10-01. p. 28. Retrieved 2025-01-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Mesa Women's Club to Present Choir in Concert". The Arizona Republic. 1954-04-26. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-01-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Opera Company Chooses 'Die Fledermaus' for June". The Arizona Republic. 1951-05-20. p. 22. Retrieved 2025-01-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Walter, Ray (1965-07-04). "They Gave Us Our First Opera Company". The Arizona Republic. p. 45. Retrieved 2025-01-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b "Oratorio Singers Formed, Lois Albright Conductor". The Arizona Republic. 1965-11-21. p. 68. Retrieved 2025-01-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Hopitu". Opening Night! - Spotlight at Stanford. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
  14. ^ "Opera Offers Indian Talents". El Paso Herald-Post. 1956-01-19. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-01-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Griffel, Margaret Ross (2012-12-21). Operas in English: A Dictionary. Scarecrow Press. p. 227. ISBN 978-0-8108-8325-3.
  16. ^ "Scouts to Take Part in Indian Dances". The Tribune. 1957-08-09. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-01-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Library slates concert by Manhattan group". The Jersey Journal. 1980-03-05. p. 11. Retrieved 2025-01-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ a b Allison, Jane (1981-07-03). "New York Loves Opera". The Indianapolis News. p. 8. Retrieved 2025-01-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Library of Congress Copyright Office (1956). Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series. p. 4.
  20. ^ "Lois Albright, Phoenix Artist, Grieving for Mother, Disappears". The Arizona Republic. 1953-02-03. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-01-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Lois Albright to Wed M. W. Billingsley, Mesa". The Arizona Republic. 1953-06-28. p. 26. Retrieved 2025-01-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Lois Albright sues Milo William Billingsley for divorce". The Arizona Republic. 1967-02-17. p. 43. Retrieved 2025-01-11 – via Newspapers.com.
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