Ada Jordan Pray

Adagerta "Ada" G. Jordan Pray (April 9, 1884 – August 25, 1961), B.L., was a composer, teacher and concert singer, the director of the Ada Jordan Pray Music School.

Ada Jordan Pray

Early life

Adagerta "Ada" G. Jordan Pray was born on April 9, 1884, in Livermore, California.[1] Her parents Wendell Jordan (1837-1901) and Gertrude Elizabeth Bearer (1858-1941), were of French-Swiss and German extraction. They moved to the United States before the Civil War and had a successfully brewery in Livermore.[2]

She graduated from University of California, Berkeley in 1906.[1]

Career

She was a composer, teacher and concert singer. She was the director of Ada Jordan Pray Music School. She was writer of songs and pianoforte music, she composed: "Veit Knickerbocker," (operetta),[2] Dancing with you, song, words by Maud Gilbert,[3] Swiss Echo Song, words and music,[4] Wishing on a Star in the Valley of the Moon, words by Nell Griffith Wilson, sang by Connie Von Loben Sels,[5] and "Schubertiana" : symphony movement in rondo form : to be used with unison chorus if desired.[6] She was a lecturer on Appreciation of Music.[1][7] For a woman of her time, she travelled extensively abroad.[1]

She was the president of the Social Center of the Oroville Monday Club[1] and of the National Music-Dramatic Honor Society in San Francisco.[8] She was vice-president of the California Music Teachers' Association.[9]

She was a member of the Durham Woman's Club and the Butte County Branch of the National League of American Pen Women.[1][2]

In 1918 she supervised the addition of the phonograph collection to The Solano County Library, in collaboration with the Victor Phonograph Company.[10]

In 1936 she was appointed to supervise the promotion of musical activities in her district in Butte County, California, where she was assigned the role to make sure all of these musical activities in the district were being directed and developed properly.[11][12]

Personal life

Ada Jordan Pray moved to Oroville, California, in 1916. In 1915 she married Lee Walker Pray (1881-1958).[1] In 1919 she moved to San Francisco and lived in Stanford Road.[2]

She died on August 25, 1961, and is buried at Chico Memorial Mausoleum and Crematory, Chico, California.[2]

Legacy

The Ada Jordan Pray Papers are preserved at the Special Collections, Meriam Library, California State University, Chico.[13]

References
  1. Binheim, Max; Elvin, Charles A (1928). Women of the West; a series of biographical sketches of living eminent women in the eleven western states of the United States of America. p. 76. Retrieved 8 August 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. "Monday, August 28, 1961, pg. 1B". Chico Enterprise-Record: 1B. 1961.
  3. Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions, Part 3. Library of Congress, Copyright Office. 1941. p. 869. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  4. "Catalog of Copyright Entries, Sr.3, Vol.12, Pt.5, No.2, 1958". 1958. Retrieved 30 September 2017. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. "Mrs. Irving Shepard of Glen - 12 Jul 1953, Sun • Page 17". The Press Democrat: 17. 1953. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  6. "Schubertiana" : symphony movement in rondo form : to be used with unison chorus if desired. OCLC 50902789. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  7. "Mrs. Hawkins at National Meeting - 19 Nov 1944, Sun • Page 10". The Eugene Guard: 10. 1944. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  8. "Tryouts Tomorrow for Musicians in S.F. - 07 Apr 1939, Fri • Page 26". Oakland Tribune: 26. 1939. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  9. "Pianist to Give Concert - 25 Nov 1933, Sat • Page 11". Oakland Tribune: 11. 1933. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  10. "Branches sprout as communities show enthusiasm". Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  11. "News of Our Past By Chico Enterprise-Record". Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  12. "Government to Provide Funds for Musicians - 23 Jul 1936, Thu • Page 4". Plumas Independent: 4. 1936. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  13. "Ada Jordan Pray Papers". Retrieved 30 September 2017.
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