Oscar Seagle (October 31, 1877 – December 19, 1945) was a prominent musician and music teacher active in the early 20th century.[1] He founded the Seagle Music Colony in Schroon Lake, New York.[2]
Seagle was a renowned baritone during the early 20th century. He toured the United States and Europe, with performances at Carnegie Hall, in Minnesota,[5] Okmulgee, Oklahoma,[6] etc. He recorded songs for Columbia Records.[2] His performances were booked by Winton & Livingston.[7]
In 1915, Seagle founded the Seagle Music Colony.[8] The colony moved to its current location in the Adirondacks when Seagle purchased property there in 1922.[2] Seagle's summer musical school expanded due to demand in 1923.[9] He employed well-known operatic instructors from Europe, including Beatrice LaPalme and Salvatore Isorel.[10]
He recorded a cover of the song "Calling Me Home to You" in March 1918, which had previously been recorded by John McCormack. Seagle's rendition charted at #4 on the US charts.[13]
Besides teaching music at the Seagle Music Colony, Seagle also taught at the Homer Institute in Kansas City.[15] His students included John Seagle, Saba Doak,[16] James Hardesty Johnson, J. Erwin Mulch,[17] and Capt. Donald W. Johnston, who organized the 102nd Infantry Division Chorus.[18]
Personal life
Oscar had a son named John, who was one of his prominent students.[2]
^He used October 31, 1877, in the World War II draft registration and his passport application from October 4, 1922. He used "October 31, 1878 in Ooltewah, Tennessee" in the World War I draft registration. He uses one or the other date evenly on various ship's manifests. His parents used "October 1877" in the 1900 United States Census and as the earliest document, it is the most likely correct one.
^The Music Magazine-musical Courier, Volume 81, page 53.
^Brooks, Tim, and Richard K. Spottswood. Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890-1919. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004, page 485, ISBN0252028503.
^Columbia Graphophone Company (U.S.). Columbia New Graded Catalog of Educational Records. New York: Columbia Graphophone Co, 1920, pages 67-68, OCLC18386164.
^Musical America, Volume 29, March 8, 1919, page 23.
Booher, Glenn. A Guide to Singing and Speaking from Studios of Jean De Reszke, Oscar Seagle, Glenn Booher. Dallas, Tex: Melodic Press, 1977. OCLC9001604
Oscar Seagle. [New York]: [Letterhead Press], 1915. OCLC849563