Sidney Dietch

Sidney Arno Dietch. Published in Musical America on September 30, 1916

Sidney Arno Dietch (May 8, 1892 – December 1, 1964) was an American voice teacher, vocal coach, pianist, and organist. A native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he was trained as a pianist and vocal pedagogue in Paris, France. He started his career as an organist and teacher of singing in Chicago. In the mid 1910s he began working as an accompanist to singers on the concert stage. In the late 1920 and early 1930s he worked closely with William Vilonat; teaching out of Vilonat's studios in New York City, Berlin, and Dresden, Germany. He took over Vilonat's studio after he died. In 1943 he joined the voice faculty of the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia where he served twenty years as head of the voice department. He maintained his private studio in New York while teaching in Philadelphia. Many of his students had careers in opera and the concert stage.

Early life and career

Sidney Arno Dietch was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on May 8, 1892.[1][2] He was one of two children born to Samuel and Hannah W. Dietch.[3] He graduated from Washington High School in Cedar Rapids.[4] He studied piano with Moritz Moszkowski in Paris, and spent three years training in that city as a vocal coach. After returning to the United States he worked as an organist, choirmaster, and voice teacher.[5] By 1914 was playing in concerts in the Chautauqua circuit.[6][7] On November 2, 1914 he performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra led by conductor Glenn Dillard Gunn at Orchestra Hall.[8] In 1915 he was active as an accompanist for concerts in Chicago.[9]

In early 1916 Dietch was accompanist for a recital tour given by tenor George Hamlin;[10] including concerts at Aeolian Hall in New York City and the Blackstone Theatre in Chicago.[11] After completing a tour of the American mid-west with Hamlin, he spent time living in Manhattan in Spring 1916.[11] In the summer of 1916 he toured in vaudeville as accompanist to operatic soprano Luella Chilson-Ohrman.[12] He then returned to Chicago where he opened a voice studio in the Fine Arts Building.[13]

He accompanied recitals given by contralto Christine Miller (1917),[14] baritone Paul Althouse (1918),[15] and mezzo-sopranos Hulda Lashanska (1918)[16] and Julia Claussen (1918).[17] He served in the United States Army during World War I; beginning his military service on April 24, 1918.[18] He was appointed bandmaster at the 62nd Street Armory in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.[19]

Later life and career

In the late 1920s and early 1930s Dietch taught voice in New York City, Berlin, and Dresden, Germany in a studio with baritone William Vilonat.[4] Some of his pupils in this studio included Metropolitan Opera stars Richard Bonelli and Richard Crooks.[20] He took over Vilonat's studio after he died.[21][22] In 1943 he joined the voice faculty of the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.[23] Not long after he became head of the voice department at the school; holding that position for twenty years until his death in 1964.[24] He concurrently taught voice out of a private studio in New York City.[25]

Sidney Dietch died in Manhattan on December 1, 1964.[26][24]

Students

Singers who studied with Dietch either at AVA or in his private studio included sopranos Natalie Bodanya,[27] Janice Harsanyi,[28] Fedora Kurban,[29] Flora Mattioli de Pasquale,[30] Gunda Mordhorst,[31] Genevieve Rowe,[32] and Margaret Truman;[33] contraltos Christine Johnson[34] and Hilda Kutsukian Kosta;[35] baritones Todd Duncan,[36] Nelson Eddy,[29] Ryan Edwards,[37] John Holland,[38] and Leonard Warren;[39] mezzo-sopranos Gwynn Cornell[40] and Beverly Wolff;[41] bass-baritones Therman Bailey[42] Gene Hollmann,[43] and Julius Huehn;[44] bass Malcolm Smith;[45] and tenors David Bender,[46] Leonardo Del Ferro,[47] and Louis Roney.[48]

Dietch also taught several music educators; among them Arthur E. Westbrook who was the dean of the School of Music at Illinois Wesleyan University;[49] Andrew White who was head of the voice department at Drake University;[50] and Dorothy DiScala who joined him on the voice faculty at AVA.[51] William R. Shoppell, conductor of the Monmouth Civic Chorus, was also one of his students.[52]

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Sidney Arno Dietch in the U.S., Passport Applications, 1795-1925
  2. ↑ Sidney Arno Dietch in the U.S., Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940
  3. ↑ "Mrs. Hannah W. Dietch". The Cedar Rapids Gazette. September 12, 1940. p. 22.
  4. 1 2 "Samuel Dietch Shares In Praise of Critic's of Pupil's Concert Work". The Cedar Rapids Gazette. January 17, 1933. p. 12.
  5. ↑ "A Versatile Organist". The Cedar Rapids Gazette. December 25, 1915. p. 10.
  6. ↑ "Music Lovers Have Their Day at Chautauqua". The Flint Journal. August 6, 1914. p. 6.
  7. ↑ "Music". The Rockford Morning Star. September 4, 1914. p. 3.
  8. ↑ "Piano Profiles". Washington Times Herald. August 3, 1947. p. 47.
  9. ↑ "Keeping Pace With the Chicago Concert Givers". Musical America. Vol. 23, no. 2. November 13, 1915. p. 42.
  10. ↑ "Many American Songs Given on Hamlin's Duluth Program". Musical America. Vol. 23, no. 9. January 1, 1916.
  11. 1 2 "Sidney Arno Dietch Will Locate to New York". The Musical Courier. Vol. 72, no. 7. February 17, 1916. p. 33.
  12. ↑ z"Mlle. Chilson-Ohrman". Variety. June 30, 1916. p. 12.
  13. ↑ "Sidney Dietch, Teacher of Voice and Accompanist". Musical America. September 30, 1916. p. 25.
  14. ↑ "Song Recital Fine Event". The Herald-Press. Saint Joseph, Michigan. January 5, 1917. p. 1. Retrieved August 5, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Canton Hears Artist". Musical America. Vol. 27, no. 19. March 9, 1918.
  16. ↑ "Mme. Lashanska". Battle Creek Moon-Journal. March 16, 1918. p. 6.
  17. ↑ "Claussen Concert". The Washington Evening Star. January 12, 1918. p. 5.
  18. ↑ Sidney Arno Dietch in the New York, U.S., Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917-1919
  19. ↑ "Seaside Amusements". Brooklyn Eagle. September 1, 1918. p. 25.
  20. ↑ "Aileen Riley Bride of Canadian Singer". The Franklin Evening Star. April 7, 1933. pp. 1, 8.
  21. ↑ "Social and Personal". Waterloo Region Record. August 3, 1934. p. 6.
  22. ↑ "Miss Burbanks to Make Debut". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. May 20, 1934. p. 17.
  23. ↑ "In the Music Schools". The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 2, 1943. p. 79.
  24. 1 2 Singer, Samuel L. (March 21, 1965). "Phila. Tenor on Scholarship". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 5AB.
  25. ↑ "3 Singers to Vie in Fete Audition". The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 5, 1945. p. 9.
  26. ↑ Sidney Dietch in the New York, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1949-1965
  27. ↑ "She's a Star of the Met, Married to a College Professor, and Likes to Jitterbug". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. July 23, 1942. p. 15.
  28. ↑ "Soprano Chosen For Simmons Series Finale". Centre Daily Times. May 7, 1954. p. 3.
  29. 1 2 "Miss Fedora Kurban". The Windsor Star. June 5, 1937. p. 9.
  30. ↑ "De Pasquale". The Philadelphia Inquirer. January 17, 2026. p. B7.
  31. ↑ "Soprano, Baritone to Be Heard". The Clarion Democrat. November 25, 1937. p. 1.
  32. ↑ "Genevieve Rowe". The Brooklyn Citizen. January 3, 1938. p. 12.
  33. ↑ "New Voice Teacher for Miss Truman". Republican and Herald. November 28, 1950. p. 7.
  34. ↑ "Pops Concert Soloist Reflects On Career". Messenger-Inquirer. June 18, 1970. p. C1.
  35. ↑ "Critics Acclaim Turkish Girl". The Morning Call. October 16, 1938. p. 21.
  36. ↑ "Todd Duncan Tops". New Pittsburgh Courier. October 7, 1944. p. 2.
  37. ↑ "Vocalist Presented in Symphony Concert". San Angelo Standard-Times. March 24, 1968. p. 44. Retrieved August 5, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. ↑ "Harold Boggess and Father Will Present Concert". The Telegraph. September 28, 1938. p. 2.
  39. ↑ "Opera Calls Cantor". The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 29, 1966. p. 57.
  40. ↑ "Concert Scheduled By Mezzo-Soprano". Queen City Mail. July 21, 1966. p. 5.
  41. ↑ "Talley-Schmidt, Miss Wolff To Be Featured in Concert". Asheville Citizen-Times. August 13, 1961. p. 18.
  42. ↑ "Therman Bailey – The Black Opera Singer". The Burlington Free Press. January 16, 1975. p. 12.
  43. ↑ "Oratorio Society to Present Elijah By Mendelssohn". The Montclair Times. April 13, 1967. p. 32.
  44. ↑ "Noted Concert Artist". The South Bend Tribune. February 26, 1950. p. 46.
  45. ↑ Doelken & Strute 1982, p. 628.
  46. ↑ "Symphony to Feature Actor, Local Singers". The York Dispatch. February 28, 1964. p. 21.
  47. ↑ Singer, Samuel I. (December 25, 1960). "Philadelphia Opera Singer is Otello Specialist". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 38.
  48. ↑ "In More Ways Than One". The Atlanta Journal. March 14, 1961. p. 19.
  49. ↑ "Elect Dean of Music College". The Pantagraph. July 14, 1922. p. 6.
  50. ↑ "Kopp, White, and Miss Hobson are Judges". The Lincoln Star. January 20, 1974. p. 19F.
  51. ↑ Toll & Gillam 1995, p. 1067.
  52. ↑ "Monmouth Symphony and Civic Chorus". The Daily Record. March 25, 1966. p. 13.

Bibliography

  • Doelken, Theodor; Strute, Karl, eds. (1982). Who's Who in the Arts and Literature: Applied Arts and Music. Vol. 2. Tandem Verlag GmbH. ISBN 9783921220542.
  • Toll, Jean Barth; Gillam, Mildred S., eds. (1995). Invisible Philadelphia: Community Through Voluntary Organizations. Atwater Kent Museum. ISBN 9780964107403.
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