Estelle Carey

Carey, Estelle

Estelle Carey (m Allen, m Riegel). Soprano, b Hamilton 1890, d there 1 Mar 1963. The oldest of Abiathar Carey's seven children, she studied voice with her cousin Bruce Carey and in 1908 in Italy with Isidore Braggiotti. She was soloist ca 1907 at Centenary United Church in Hamilton. She appeared in concert and recital throughout southern Ontario, often with her cousins Vernon and Bertha, and in 1912 sang with the WelsmanTSO in Chatham. She toured western Canada in 1913, singing in Fort William, Winnipeg, Regina, and Edmonton, and also Calgary, where she was soprano soloist in Gounod's Gallia and Rossini's Stabat mater with the Central Methodist Church choir led by Wilfred V. Oaten. She pursued her career in the USA during the 1920s, performing in Chicago, Detroit, and New York. During her 52-week engagement in 1923 at the Strand Theater, New York, her sweet but powerful coloratura voice earned her the sobriquet 'The Little Brown Thrush of Broadway.'

See also Whitfield (George) Carey, Bruce Carey, Edith Carey, Clara Carey, Vernon Carey, Bertha Carey, Talbert Carey, and Flora Carey (all members of the same musical family).