Period

:

Classical

Genre

:

Opera

 

Ann Ayars was an American soprano who made a name for herself in the world of classical music during the mid-20th century. Born on October 23, 1918, in Corona, California, Ayars grew up in a musical family. Her father was a violinist and her mother was a pianist, and they encouraged their daughter's interest in music from a young age. Ayars began her formal music education at the University of Southern California, where she studied voice with Horatio Cogswell and piano with Lillian Leland. She also studied at the Juilliard School in New York City, where she worked with the renowned vocal coach Anna Schoen-René. In 1940, Ayars made her professional debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, singing the soprano solo in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. This performance was a major success, and it helped to launch Ayars' career as a soloist. Over the next few years, Ayars performed with a number of major orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She also appeared in a number of operas, including Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni, and Puccini's La Bohème. One of Ayars' most notable performances came in 1943, when she sang the role of Micaëla in a production of Bizet's Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. This performance was widely praised by critics, and it helped to establish Ayars as one of the leading sopranos of her time. In addition to her work as a soloist, Ayars was also a dedicated teacher. She taught voice at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles, and she also gave private lessons to a number of aspiring singers. Throughout her career, Ayars received a number of awards and honors for her contributions to classical music. In 1944, she was awarded the prestigious Prix de Paris, which allowed her to study music in France for a year. She was also awarded the Handel Medal by the Handel Society of New York in 1950, and she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Southern California in 1978. Ayars continued to perform and teach throughout the 1950s and 1960s, but she gradually began to scale back her activities as she grew older. She retired from performing in 1970, but she continued to teach voice until her death on January 27, 1995, at the age of 76. Today, Ann Ayars is remembered as one of the most talented and influential sopranos of her time. Her performances and recordings continue to inspire new generations of classical music lovers, and her legacy as a teacher and mentor lives on through the many students she taught over the course of her long and illustrious career.

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