Opera

Abstract

In her interview with Liz Edrich on July 1, 2015, Esther Simplot, a notable philanthropist and former opera singer, discusses her memories of Opera Idaho’s evolution and growth as a performing arts organization and her personal history.

Abstract In her interview with Terri Schorzman on April 15, 2022, Marie Blanchard discusses her personal history and experience as a singer and board member for Boise Civic Opera. Marie begins the interview with discussing her training to be a nurse where she worked in a tuberculosis sanitorium and recounts being present for the first pneumonectomy. She next worked as a stewardess for Pan America, frequently flying to cities in Alaska prior to getting married; she describes the working...

Content Description

The Marie Blanchard papers consist of correspondence, greeting cards, performance programs, photographs, and newspaper clippings documenting Marie’s involvement in Boise’s performing arts organizations including Boise Music Week, Boise Little Theatre, and Boise Civic Opera.

Scope and Contents This collection documents the history of Opera Idaho including the evolution of the organization through name changes, its production and event history, and early activities of the organization’s supporting body, Boise Opera Guild. Materials are largely textual, comprising organizing documents, correspondence, meeting notes and minutes, financial material, clippings, brochures, mailers, posters, and programs. The collection contains other formats including photographs, slides,...

Abstract In her interview with Terri Schorzman on February 26, 2022, Patricia Wilcomb discusses her personal history and experience as a singer and board member for the Boise Philharmonic and Boise Civic Opera.Patricia begins her interview discussing how her family came to Boise from Tennessee after the American Civil War, and her father’s career as a builder in the 1920s and 30s with his company, Jordan-Wilcomb Construction, Inc. formerly Jordan & Son, and the notable projects they...

Scope and Contents

This collection documents the activities of Patricia Wilcomb during her time as an opera singer with the Boise Civic Opera from 1971-1976, as well as her participation in a 1949 production of Madame Butterfly.