Born: 4 September 1885, United States
Died: 1 February 1974
Country most active: United States, International
Also known as: NA
The following is republished from the Library of Congress. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Alice Eversman was born on September 4, 1885, in Effingham, Illinois, to John Caspar Eversman and Frances Caroline Gibbons. The family moved to Chicago when she was young, and then to Washington, D.C., where she attended the Georgetown Visitation Convent and Fairmont Seminary. She began music studies with John W. Bischoff in D.C. and Emma Thursby in New York City. She received a scholarship to study at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland. Her brother, John C. Eversman, served as manager early in her career and sent her to Berlin, Milan, and Paris, where she studied with Amelie Heussner, George Fergusson, Gabriele Sibella, and Roberto Moranzoni, among others. From 1910 to 1912, she was a prima donna of the Chicago Opera Company and also sang with the Montreal Opera Company, the Century Opera Company of New York City, and the San Carlo Opera. In 1916, she became a prima donna with the Metropolitan Opera Company of New York City. She also toured with the Sonora Opera Company. Her repertoire included Aida, Gounod’s Faust, and Il Trovatore. During the 1910s, she toured throughout Russia, Europe, and the Americas with violinist Elena de Sayn. While in Paris during the 1920s, she founded the European Concert Bureau and reviewed films for the Paris edition of the New York Herald. After moving to Washington, D.C., she joined the staff of The Evening Star in 1932 as a music critic, reviewing concerts nearly daily until her retirement in 1953. She was the founder of the Washington Music Council and a member of the Women’s National Press Club. She served as president of the American Newspaper Women’s Club from 1942 to 1945, and in 1942, received an honorary Doctorate of Music from Washington College of Music. She died in Fairfax, Virginia, on February 1, 1974.