page_title: Mary Howe (singer)
section_title: Family and education
hierarchical_section_title: Mary Howe (singer) / Family and education
caption_attribution_description: English: Mary Howe, age 14
context_page_description: Mary Howe was an American operatic soprano, well known in Germany in the 1880s and 1890s. She inherited her musical talents from her father, a choir leader and chorister, and received early training from a brother, who was a pianist. Howe retired from the stage in 1905 and died in 1952.
context_section_description: Mary Howe was born at Brattleboro, Vermont, in 1870. Of New England ancestry, her father was Caleb Lysander Howe, a photographer, and Cynthia (Sherman) Howe. She had six siblings, N. Sherman, Fred, Alice, Jeanette, John C. and Lucien. She inherited her musical talent from her father, who was a successful choir leader and chorister for many years. Her brother Lucien was an accomplished musician, having attained a reputation as a pianist.
  Howe's childhood was spent at home. She was often told that she could sign a tune before she could walk alone. When a little girl, she wanted to be a "big singer,” and her greatest delight was to put on an old calico apron for a “trail,” make a stage of old boxes and give concerts. Her first public experience on the stage was at the age of four, in a little cantata given by children. Her second, at the age of nine, was in an operetta called “The Quarrel Among the Flowers.” She had the part of “The Dahlia,” and did so well in it that from that time on, unusual things were expected of her.
  Howe's first teacher in singing and instrumental music was her brother, Lucien Howe.  At the age of nine or eleven, she took the part of “Josephine” in a children’s performance of H.M.S. Pinafore. . As she had to lead the chorus as well, the effort proved to be somewhat of a strain on her voice, and she was not allowed to sing much during the next year. Her first concert of importance was in 1880, at Newfane, Vermont. In the early 1880s, when Howe was in her teens and unknown to musical fame outside of her native town, she made her debut in Western Vermont as a concert singer. The occasion was the opening concert of the first festival of the Rutland Music Festival Association. She scored a marked artistic success, and at once established herself in popular favor. 
  The first money Howe ever earned by singing was paid to her as soprano in a church choir in her home town when she was 14. Her father, at that time 70 years of age, but still retaining a strong, clear, tenor voice, was the choir leader. At the age of 16, she went with her brother to Boston, where he was continuing his musical studies. She had vocal lessons of Charles R. Adams and profited greatly by his training. At home during the next summer, she became acquainted with Aline Osgood, the soprano, whose encouragement and example at this time were invaluable to Howe. She spent part of the following winter in Philadelphia with Mrs. Osgood, and continued her studies with Prof. Siegfried Behrens, the teacher and conductor. The following year, she went abroad in company with her brother, and for two years studied singing and acting in the school of Augusta Giitze in Dresden.
caption: Mary Howe, age 14
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