Herbert Witherspoon

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title: "Herbert Witherspoon" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1873-births", "1935-deaths", "american-operatic-basses", "american-opera-managers", "metropolitan-opera-people", "musicians-from-buffalo,-new-york", "singers-from-new-york-(state)", "yale-university-alumni", "20th-century-american-male-opera-singers", "classical-musicians-from-new-york-(state)", "19th-century-american-male-opera-singers"] description: "American operatic bass" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Witherspoon" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American operatic bass ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Herbert Witherspoon
image	Herbert Witherspoon LCCN2014703709 (cropped).jpg
caption	Witherspoon circa 1915
birth_date
birth_place	Buffalo, New York
death_date
death_place	Manhattan, New York City
education	Yale University
office	General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera
term_start	1935
term_end	1935
predecessor	Giulio Gatti-Casazza
successor	Edward Patrick Johnson
spouse	{{plainlist
*{{marriage	Florence Hinkle
::

| name =Herbert Witherspoon | image =Herbert Witherspoon LCCN2014703709 (cropped).jpg | caption =Witherspoon circa 1915 | birth_date = | birth_place = Buffalo, New York | death_date = | death_place = Manhattan, New York City | education=Yale University | office =General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera | term_start =1935 | term_end =1935 | predecessor = Giulio Gatti-Casazza | successor =Edward Patrick Johnson |spouse= {{plainlist|

• Greta Hughes (divorced)

Herbert Witherspoon (July 21, 1873 – May 10, 1935) was an American bass singer and opera manager.

Biography

He was born on July 21, 1873, in Buffalo, New York.

He graduated from Yale University in 1895 where he had performed as a member of the Yale Glee Club. After leaving school he studied music with Horatio Parker, Edward MacDowell, and Gustav Stoeckel. Witherspoon also studied singing with Walter Henry Hall and Max Treumann in New York City. For further study he traveled to Europe. He worked in Paris with Jean-Baptiste Faure and Jacques Bouhy and in Milan with Francesco Lamperti and also studied in London and Berlin.

Witherspoon made his singing debut in 1898 with a small company in New York, and soon was making many appearances in concert and in oratorios. On November 26, 1908, he made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera as Titurel in Richard Wagner's Parsifal. He remained with the company until his retirement from singing in 1914, at which point he chose to concentrate on teaching. Witherspoon made many recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company between 1907 and 1917.

On June 20, 1916 in Manhattan he married Florence Hinkle as his second wife.

In 1925, Witherspoon became president of the Chicago Musical College. In 1930 he became artistic director of the Chicago Civic Opera, and in 1931 took over as president of the Cincinnati Conservatory. On the strength of his work in these positions, Witherspoon was named to succeed Giulio Gatti-Casazza when the latter retired as General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in 1935.

After the death of Florence Hinkle in 1933, he married Blanche Sternberg Skeath.

Witherspoon died suddenly on May 10, 1935, at the Metropolitan Opera House. He was barely six weeks into his term as general manager, when he collapsed at his desk from a heart attack while meeting with Met assistant manager, Edward Ziegler. His last words, after Ziegler gave him the news that subscriptions for the 1935–1936 season were exceeding expectations, were, "That's grand." In 1944 his widow became the managing director of the new Ballet International. His will set aside money for the Library of Congress to buy music scripts to be donated in the name of Florence Hinkle, his second wife. The remainder of his estate went to his third wife, Blanche Sternberg Skeath.

Legacy

Witherspoon was succeeded as General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera by tenor Edward Johnson. During his career he also taught singing privately. One of his students was Met soprano Mabel Garrison. Another students was contralto Amy Ellerman.

Works or publications

• 36 lessons in singing for teacher and student.
• Singing; a treatise for teachers and students.

References

References

1. (June 21, 1916). "H. Witherspoon Weds. Metropolitan Opera Basso Marries Miss Florence Hinkle, Soprano". [[The New York Times]].
2. (May 11, 1935). "Witherspoon, Opera Leader, Dies in Office". [[Chicago Tribune]].
3. (May 11, 1935). "Witherspoon Dies In Office At Opera On Eve Of Sailing. New Manager of Metropolitan Is Victim of Sudden Heart Attack After Day's Work". [[The New York Times]].
4. (May 20, 1935). "Death in the Met".
5. (July 19, 1944). "Mrs. H. Witherspoon Directs New Ballet". [[The New York Times]].
6. (May 17, 1935). "Witherspoon Will Sets Up Memorial. Fund in Name of Second Wife Will Buy Music Manuscripts for Library of Congress". [[The New York Times]].
7. (June 6, 1960). "Amy Ellerman, Singer, Teacher; Contralto Who Was Voice Coach to Irene Dunne and Other Film Stars Dies". [[The New York Times]].

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