Mary Garden was born February 20th, 1877, in Aberdeen, Scotland. She
came to America with her parents when she was eight years of age and was
brought up in Chicopee, Massachusetts, Hartford, Connecticut, and
Chicago, Illinois. She studied the violin when she was six and the piano
when she was twelve. It was the ambition of her parents to make her an
instrumental performer. She studied voice with Mrs. S. R. Duff, who in
time took her to Paris and placed her under the instruction of
Trabadello and Lucien Fugere. Her operatic debut was made in
Charpentier's _Louise_ at the Opera Comique in 1900. Her success was
immediate both as an actress and as a singer. She was chosen by Debussy
and others for especially intricate roles. She created the role of
_Melisande_; also, _Fiammette_ in Laroux's _La Reine Fiammette_. In 1907
she made her American debut in _Thais_ at the Manhattan Opera House in
New York City. Later she accepted leading roles with the
Philadelphia-Chicago Opera Co. She is considered by many the finest
singing actress living--her histrionic gifts being in every way equal to
her vocal gifts. In 1921 she was made the manager of the Chicago Opera
Company.