Bina Addy

Bina Addy (born about 1900, died 1962), also seen as Bini Addy, was an Indian singer of popular Bengali and western songs.

Bina Addy
Bina Addy, from a 1937 Australian magazine.
Born
Calcutta
Died1962
NationalityIndian
Other namesBini Addy
Occupationsinger

Early life

Bina Addy was from Calcutta, from a Bengali Christian family; two of her brothers became college professors.[1] Her voice first attracted notice in a church choir in Calcutta. She studied music in Europe after 1928, with Elena Gerhardt in Leipzig and Mario Cotogni in Rome.[2]

Career

Addy was considered a mezzo-soprano or contralto singer.[3][4] She was promoted as the first Indian woman to study Western music in Europe,[5] and the first to become a professional singer touring internationally.[6][7] She performed on BBC radio broadcasts between 1929 and 1932.[8][9] In 1931, the League of Nations Union in Croydon held a reception for Addy, where she performed.[10]

Addy sang in concerts, on radio, and at benefits for the YWCA and other organizations, in Australia and New Zealand in the 1930s.[2][11][12] She was involved in the centenary celebrations in South Australia in 1936.[13] Her programs were mainly Bengali songs, including works by Rabindranath Tagore,[14] but she sometimes included British folk songs, African-American spirituals, Italian arias, and German lieder.[15] She also gave short talks during her programs, about Gandhi, Tagore, and other Indian topics. She was often accompanied by women musicians.[6] "Her technique is assured and well-founded, and with this she associates an impressive sense of style," noted one Australian critic in 1937.[16]

"It is my sincere desire to create a better understanding between my country and other nations," she told an interviewer in 1937, "and if I could feel that I had in any way provided a link between the East and the West, I should be content."[2]

References

  1. "Education in India; Increasingly Popular Among Wealthy People". News. March 9, 1937. p. 8. Retrieved November 24, 2019 via Trove.
  2. "Bina Addy Indian Contralto to Tour A. B. C." The Wireless Weekly (February 5, 1937): 67. via Trove
  3. "Indian Songstress in London; Miss Bina Addy's Work in England". Malaya Tribune. June 30, 1932. p. 10. Retrieved November 24, 2019 via NewspaperSG.
  4. Fifield, Christopher (2017-11-22). Ibbs and Tillett: The Rise and Fall of a Musical Empire. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-12572-7.
  5. E. B. (January 19, 1931). "An Indian Singer; Miss Bina Addy's Recital at Rutland House". The Guardian. p. 11. Retrieved November 24, 2019 via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Miss Bina Addy; 'At Home' in Concert Chamber". Evening Star. June 24, 1936. p. 15. Retrieved November 24, 2019 via Papers Past.
  7. "Talented Bengalese Vocalist; Miss Bina Addy at Savoy". Evening Star. July 11, 1936. p. 19. Retrieved November 25, 2019 via Papers Past.
  8. "Bina W. Addy (Mezzo-Soprano)". The Radio Times (311). 1929-09-13. p. 42. ISSN 0033-8060. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
  9. "The Gershom Parkington Quintet". The Radio Times (426). 1931-11-27. p. 70. ISSN 0033-8060. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
  10. Creighton, Sean (2018-08-29). "The original Croydon Peace Festival: the town's 'peace weeks' in 1930 and 1934". The Croydon Citizen. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
  11. "Miss Bina Addy; Drawing Room Recital". Otago Daily Times. June 20, 1936. p. 22. Retrieved November 24, 2019 via Papers Past.
  12. "Miss Bini Addy, A Bengalese Singer". Auckland Star. May 18, 1936. p. 11. Retrieved November 25, 2019 via NewspaperArchive.com.
  13. "Indian Singer Aids our Centenary". Adelaide News. May 2, 1936. p. 1. Retrieved November 25, 2019 via NewspaperArchive.com.
  14. "From India; Mezzo-Contralto to Broadcast". The Sydney Morning Herald. January 21, 1937. p. 20. Retrieved November 24, 2019 via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Bina Addy to Assist Y. W. C. A. Fund". The Advertiser. May 5, 1937. p. 11. Retrieved November 24, 2019 via Trove.
  16. "Recital of Indian Songs". The Courier-Mail. February 12, 1937. p. 15. Retrieved November 24, 2019 via Trove.
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