Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Whitney, Myron W.

WHITNEY, Myron W., singer, b. in Ashbury, Mass., 5 Sept., 1836. He went to Boston at the age of sixteen and made his first appearance there in 1858 at a Christmas performance of the “Messiah” that was given by the Handel and Haydn society. After about ten years of concert-singing he went to Florence, Italy, where he studied with Luigi Vennusini, and then to London to become a pupil of Alberto Randegger. He then filled various engagements and attracted attention especially by his rendition of the part of Elijah at the Birmingham festival. In 1876 he was the principal solo-singer at the opening exercises of the Centennial exhibition in Philadelphia. Since that year he has sung in his native country, and has appeared in nearly all the May festivals held in different cities of the Union. For several years he was a member of the Boston ideal opera company. He possesses a fine bass voice of nearly three octaves compass, and is especially noted as an oratorio-singer.