
These young artists represent who the classical music world can expect to see on celebrated opera house stages throughout the world in the very near future. Louis (though they later claimed to hail from the west Texas town of. Sisters Mildred and Dorothy Goad, born Apand December 11, 1915, respectively, were born in southern Illinois and reared in East St. Admission to Merola is based on talent rather than financial ability Merola pays all tuition, housing and travel expenses for the participants and also grants them a living stipend during their intensive training in San Francisco. From the Merola Opera Program, a select group of Adler Fellows is chosen to continue their education under the guidance of San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley and Opera Center Director Sheri Greenawald. The Girls of the Golden West were top names in radio game of the Great Depression-era, when America got bit by the Western bug. Approximately 23 singers, five apprentice coaches and one apprentice stage director are chosen each year out of hundreds of hopefuls from around the world, for the 12-week summer program. The Merola Opera Program was founded more than half a century ago by San Francisco Opera’s second general director, Kurt Herbert Adler. Scenes from Merola’s Girls of the Golden West: The party did not stop there next there was dancing, dessert and mingling with the Adler Fellows on the terrace. Darwin - who generously supported Merola for many years.įollowing the auction, some 330 guests moved into the Fairmont’s Venetian Room for dinner and to watch Adler Fellows, Erin Johnson, Laura Krumm, AJ Gluekert, Hadleigh Adams, Phillipe Sly, Robert Mollicone and Sun Ha Yoon, perform songs from Donizetti, Gluck, Meyerbeer and Mozart. Girls of the Golden West celebrated four nonagenarians - Mrs. Dinner with Phillipe Sly, Merola Class of ’11, performing Schumann’s Dichterliebe, accompanied by Robert Mollicone (Merola ’11) at the home of Peter Winkelstein, was just one example of the highly sought auction items featuring events with Merola alumni in private homes. Guests arrived early to get their bids in for signature items in the silent auction at Merola’s annual spring benefit gala, Girls of the Golden West, on April 23, 2013, at the Fairmont Hotel. In 1978, Sonyatone released a collection of their cowboy- and western-oriented material.Laura Krumm, mezzo-soprano, performed “Nobles seigneurs, salute!” from Meyerbeers’ Les Huguenots, accompanied by Robert Mollicone, piano Their discography includes three albums for the Fort Worth Bluebonnet label. The Girls of the Golden West performed and recorded sporadically until Dorothy Good's death in 1967. What had always been a strong interest of the girls increased as their career went on, until the pop material started to take over more territory during their recording sessions. Then, there was a certain number of traditional cowboy songs from the realm of orally passed-on folk music, and the sessions were filled out with cover versions of pop standards they liked. In the recording studio, the girls created a repertoire that consisted of about half newly composed ditties based on western themes. She did not try to play lead fills in the manner of Maybelle Carter, instead specializing in top-quality harmony parts and catchy yodeling. Dorothy Good took the lead on most of the solo passages and played guitar in a basic manner that worked suitably as an accompanying instrument. The sisters were such a hit on the Vallee program that it led to them being offered their own weekly NBC program, and a recording contract followed posthaste. Regular appearances on the Chicago radio station WLS' National Barn Dance began in 1933 and led to guest spots on Rudy Vallee's syndicated NBC show. Making their home near Chicago, the Girls of the Golden West appeared regularly on a variety of radio shows heard from Northern Canada to south of the Mexican border.
#The girls of the golden west singers professional#
When Dolly was only 14, they made their professional debut on radio station WIL in St. And although this audience preferred the girls' versions of cowboy and western material, the sisters themselves personally preferred pop music. The sisters began their duo the way many talented children do - by entertaining family and friends in the comfort of their home. They grew up listening to cowboy songs from the Southwest, and wound up getting the credit for spreading this regional influence into the blend of what developed into country & western music. Louis, Missouri, in 19, respectively (they later claimed Muleshoe, Texas as their hometown to bolster their cowgirl image. Sisters Mildred and Dorothy "Dolly" Good were born in St. The opening round of biographical details in the story of the Girls of the Golden West sets the tone with names that seem properly ironic.
