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Born: 1933 - Brooklyn, New York, USA.
Died: July 1, 2009 - Strongsville, Ohio, USA |
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The American soprano and teacher, Sophie Ginn-Paster (born Sophie Ginn), graduated from Holyoke High School in Massachusetts and got bachelor's and master's degrees at the prestigious Juilliard School of Music. She also studied in Graz and Vienna, Austria. Her famous teachers included singers Eleanor Steber and Jennie Tourel.
In younger years, Sophie Ginn performed across the nation and the ocean, especially in Austria. She sang with the Lake Erie Opera, New York City Opera and NBC Television Opera Theatre. "Miss Ginn made a highly favorable impression," the New York Times wrote about a recital of hers in 1958. "The soprano owns a light, clear, pleasant-textured voice that she handles with skill." She played 13 leading roles, including Anna in The King and I. She won a recital award from the New York Singing Teachers Association, earning a recital at Town Hall.
Sophie Ginn taught at Bowling Green State and North Texas State universities before joining Baldwin-Wallace College in 1968. She trained singers for Broadway, television and leading opera companies. She was known at Baldwin-Wallace College as the Queen of Diction. "If there was ever a question about a pronunciation in any language, it was Sophie Ginn-Paster we went to," said Joanne Uniatowski, a colleague at the college's Conservatory of Music. The prize-winning vocalist and professor sang and spoke with queenly diction, posture and authority, onstage and off.
Sophie Ginn also helped to lead academic organizations. She became a board member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing Foundation and president of its Ohio chapter. She won honors from Ohio's governor and representatives, the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and others.
Sophie Ginn-Paster outlived her husband, Paul Paster, and their only child, Paul Jr. A frequent traveler, she spent two weeks every summer on the beach with relatives in Connecticut and two weeks with them every Christmas season. The 75-year-old went on medical leave in March but never retired. She died on July 1, 2009 at her Strongsville home from complications of cancer. |
