Ethel Peake

Peake, Ethel

Ethel Peake. Mezzo soprano, teacher, b Twickenham, England 27 Jan 1885, d Sackville NB 25 Jul 1954. As a young woman she moved to Berlin and studied voice and piano at the Sternsche Konservatorium with Franz Zimmermann and Martha Sauvan respectively. Her first professional appearances were also in Berlin - in lieder, oratorio and opera She performed for the Kaiser and King George V, and taught singing in the Kaiserin's household.

At the beginning of World War I she returned to England and sang under many conductors, among them Sir Thomas Beecham, Sir Henry Wood and Sir Frederick Bridge. She gave recitals at the Royal Albert and Queen's Halls; her opera roles during this period - many for the Beecham Opera Company - included Amneris in Aida, Elizabeth in Tannhäuser and Brunnhilde in Die Walküre. She moved to Canada in 1923, taught at the TCM (RCMT), and performed in recital and on radio. From 1936 until her death she taught at the Mount Allison Conservatory, where she directed its vocal dept,. Among her many pupils was Audrey Farnell. By 1991 the university's music society had been renamed the Ethel Peake Memorial Society in her honour.