Rossini Vrionides
Rossini Waugh Stewart Vrionides (June 25, 1896 - November 25, 1943) was an American actress, composer,[1] organist,[2] and violinist. She performed in vaudeville and on stage under the name "Gypsy Rossini."[3]
Rossini was born in Tipton, Indiana, to James and Eva (Overman) Waugh. [4] She was playing the lead in the play "Running for Governor" at McVickers Theatre in Chicago when she met Cal Stewart. They married in New York on July 6, 1914. [5]
Rossini and her brother and sister toured and appeared on vaudeville with Stewart. Rossini played the role of Aunt Nancy in his popular "Uncle Josh" shows.[6] She also played violin as Gypsy Rossini, accompanied by her sister Marjorie on piano.[7]
Stewart died in 1919. Rossini continued performing and gave organ and violin lessons. She taught violin at St. Joseph's Academy in Tipton for several years,[8] before marrying conductor Christos Vrionides on April 19, 1933.[4]
Vrionides and Rossini composed A Cycle of Whitman Poems for mixed chorus and soloists in 1940,[9] based on text by Walt Whitman[10] and published by M. Baron.[11] The best known pieces in the cycle are Out of the Rolling Ocean the Crowd [12] and Washington's Monument.[13]
References
- Hixon, Donald L. (1993). Women in music : an encyclopedic biobibliography. Hennessee, Don A. (2nd ed.). Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-2769-7. OCLC 28889156.
- "Staff". website. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
- Cohen, Aaron I. International encyclopedia of women composers (Second edition, revised and enlarged ed.). New York. ISBN 0-9617485-2-4. OCLC 16714846.
- Vrionides, Rossini Waugh Stewart. "ancestry.com". Retrieved January 18, 2021.
- Stewart, Rossini Waugh (July 21, 1914). "newspapers.com". The Call-Leader Elwood Indiana. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
- Tribune, Laura Arwood Kokomo. "Tipton Historical Society remembers women with event". Kokomo Tribune. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
- McNutt, Randy (September 16, 2011). Cal Stewart, Your Uncle Josh: America's King of Rural Comedy. iUniverse. ISBN 978-1-4620-4347-7.
- "Rossini Waugh Vrionides (Unknown-1943) - Find A..." www.findagrave.com. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
- Division, New York Public Library Rare Book (1979). The Imprint Catalog in the Rare Book Division. G. K. Hall. ISBN 978-0-8161-0092-7.
- Neilson, Kenneth P. (1963). The World of Walt Whitman Music: A Bibliographical Study. K.P. Neilson.
- Library, New York Public (1954). Bulletin of the New York Public Library. New York Public Library.
- Office, Library of Congress Copyright (1941). Catalog of Copyright Entries. U.S. Government Printing Office.
- Wannamaker, John Samuel (1971). The Musical Settings of the Poetry of Walt Whitman: A Study of Theme, Structure and Prosody. University of Minnesota.