Amanda Aldridge

Amanda Christina Elizabeth Aldridge, also known as Amanda Ira Aldridge (10 March 1866 – 9 March 1956), was a British opera singer and teacher who composed love songs, suites, sambas, and light orchestral pieces under the pseudonym of Montague Ring. Born into an artistic family, the Aldridge legacy included her father who was a successful African-American Shakespearian actor, Ira Frederick Aldridge. He was dubbed the ‘African Roscius’ when he first starred as Othello at the Royalty Theatre in London. Her mother, Amanda Brandt, was a Swedish opera singer. Amanda’s sister, Luranah Aldridge was a star operatic contralto in Europe and the United States. Aldridge studied voice under Jenny Lind and George Henschel at the Royal College of Music in London, and harmony and counterpoint with Frederick Bridge and Francis Edward Gladstone. Career After completing her studies, Aldridge worked as a concert singer, piano accompanist, and voice teacher. A throat condition ended her concert appearances, and she turned to teaching and published about thirty songs between the years 1907 and 1925 in a romantic parlour style, as well as instrumental music in other styles. Among her pupils were the child