Madalyn Akers Phillips

Madalyn Akers Phillips
Madalyn Akers, later Phillips, from a 1927 publication
Born
Maddalena Marie Heryer

August 1889
Hutchinson, Kansas, U.S.
DiedAugust 24, 1949 (age 60)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Other namesMadalyn Heryer Akers, Madalyn Heryer Phillips
Occupation(s)Composer, organist

Madalyn Akers Phillips (August 1889 – August 24, 1949), born Maddalena Marie Heryer, was an American composer and organist.

Early life and education

Heryer was born in Hutchinson, Kansas, the daughter of David Heryer and Ida May Sperry Heryer.[1][2][3] Both of her parents were musical and they identified her musical talents at an early age.[4] She attended Knox Conservatory of Music,[5][6] and earned a master's degree in composition from the American Conservatory of Music in 1927, under the supervision of Adolf Weidig.[4][7][8]

Career

Akers Phillips began giving recitals and performing her compositions as a young woman.[1][2] She was a church organist in Kansas City, Missouri. She gave concerts on organ, including a 1936 performance in Riverside, California,[9] and 1946 and 1947 benefit concerts in Chula Vista, California, the latter with actor William Farnum.[10][11]

Akers was featured on "Meet the Composer", a radio program about California composers, in 1932.[12] Compositions by Akers Phillips were featured in 1939 at a festival in California, sponsored by the Native Composers Society, alongside works by Charles Wakefield Cadman and Nathaniel Dett, among others.[13] She chaired a benefit concert for the Red Cross in 1942 in Chula Vista,[14] and a musicale of the Musical Merit Foundation in San Diego in 1946.[15]

She was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star,[16] and southern district president of the National Federation of Music Clubs.[17]

Compositions

"Her work ranges in character from simple but charming cradle songs to the dignity oforchestral selections, difficulty arrangemets for pipe organ and piano," explained a 1945 article about Akers Phillips. "Her songs both secular and sacred have been sung in leading churches and concert platforms of the country by famous church and concert singers."[4]

  • "The Fraternity Waltz" (1908)[2][18]
  • "A Hunting Song" (lyrics by Sir Walter Scott)[1]
  • "Song Without Words"[1]
  • "Gypsy Suite"[2]
  • "Clouds in the Moonlight" (1940, dedicated to Edna Scotten Billings)[19]
  • "The Rock-a-by Train" (1941, lyrics by Florence Williams Brantley)[20]
  • "Igor's Song" (1942, dedicated to Lawrence Tibbett)[21]
  • "I Cannot Weep" (1942, dedicated to Dusolina Giannini)
  • "Thank God for America" (1942)[21][22]
  • "The Fiesta of the Moon" (1947)[23]
  • "Chula Vista, Where Dreams Come True" (1947)[23]
  • "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight" (lyrics by Vachel Lindsay)[11]
  • "Holdin' Yo' Hand in the Dark" (lyrics by Curtis Burnley Railing)[10]
  • "Postscript"[10]
  • "Because it Knows"[10]
  • "California Suite"[24]
  • "He is Risen, as He Said"[4]

Personal life

Heryer married William Fred Akers in 1915;[3] he died in 1930. She married again in 1937, to California businessman William S. Phillips.[25] She died in 1949, at the age of 60, in San Diego, California.[17][26]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Hutchinson Composer; Miss Maddalena Heryer Showed Artistic Skill". Hutchinson News. 1912-03-20. p. 5. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c d "Is Real Genius; Maddalena Heryer is a Wonder in Musical Lines". Hutchinson News. 1911-10-17. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-01-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b "Society News". Hutchinson News. 1915-09-07. p. 5. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c d "Madalyn Phillips Composition to be Played at Forest Lawn Easter Services". The Chula Vista Star. 1945-03-23. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Preparatory Department Music" The Knox Student (June 11, 1908): 636.
  6. ^ "Conservatory Notes" The Knox Student (January 13, 1910): 258.
  7. ^ "Maddalena Heryer Ayers, Organist". Music News. 19: 3. June 10, 1927.
  8. ^ "Phillips, Madalyn (1949)". UMKC Libraries. Archived from the original on 2024-08-03. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
  9. ^ "Tenor, Organist Come Saturday; Russell Horton and Madalyn Marie Akers to Give Concert". Riverside Daily Press. 1936-11-30. p. 6. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b c d "Woman's Club Packed for Benefit Concert by Lee Whitney, Madalyn Akers Phillips". The Chula Vista Star. 1946-11-01. p. 6. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b "Outstanding Artists to Present Organ Concert Here Sun". The Chula Vista Star. 1947-01-17. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Music; California Composers". California Arts and Architecture. 42 (2): 3. September–October 1932 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ^ Snoddy, Abbie L. (September–October 1939). "Events in California". Music Clubs Magazine: 9.
  14. ^ "Colorful A capella Choir To Appear Here Monday; Noted Aggregation to Stage Benefit Concert". The Chula Vista Star. 1942-05-08. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Miss Barbara Steinbach to be Featured Artist on Musical Merit Fall Festival". The Chula Vista Star. 1946-11-15. p. 6. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "To Install Officers of Chula Vista O.E.S. Chapter at Junior High Auditorium Saturday Evening Nov. 29". The Chula Vista Star. 1941-11-21. p. 5. Archived from the original on 2025-01-20. Retrieved 2025-01-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ a b "Former Music Official Dies in Southern City". Tulare Advance-Register. 1949-08-25. p. 5. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "The Fraternity Waltz (1908)". Johns Hopkins University Libraries. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
  19. ^ "Music for Meditation". The Kansas City Times. 1941-10-28. p. 8. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions. Library of Congress, Copyright Office. 1942.
  21. ^ a b "Sunday Proves Real Treat to All Attending Musical Tea Held at W. S. Phillips Home Last". The Chula Vista Star. 1942-07-31. p. 5. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Odds and Ends of the Day's News". The Hutchinson News-Herald. 1942-03-31. p. 13. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ a b "Antonio Lello Takes Masculine Lead in Fiesta de la Luna Play". The Chula Vista Star. 1947-06-27. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Womans Club Year Rounded Out With Activities and Meetings". The Chula Vista Star. 1942-09-25. p. 5. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Composer to Wed Next Wednesday". The Los Angeles Times. 1937-08-01. p. 50. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Mrs. W. S. Phillips; Former Mrs. Madalyn Akers was a Musician Here". The Kansas City Times. 1949-08-26. p. 30. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-01-09 – via Newspapers.com.
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