The Sam Lewis Company

              1912

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The SAM LEWIS COMPANY



MISS AMBER HOPKINS





The Sam Lewis Company
MR. SAMUEL LEWIS, the Welsh tenor who leads this company, is one of the most popular ballad singers in this country and is scarcely less a favorite in the singing of oratorio and operatic arias.  Except for the unsavory reputation of comparisons, he might truly be called The John McCormack of the lyceum.

Mr. Lewis's voice in quality of tone possesses a never-to-be-forgotten richness that goes home to the heart of every hearer.  You will not tire of his singing, however many times you hear him, but will wish him to sing on and on without even the interruption of applause to break the spell of perfect pleasure.  When Charles Edward Clarke heard Mr. Lewis and was asked What do you think of his voice?  this widely known Chicago baritone replied: There is nothing better in this country.  You will agree with Mr. Clarke when you hear Mr. Lewis.  His singing is worth a trip of a hundred miles to hear.

MISS RUTH LAVERY, violinist, will be a close second to Mr. Lewis in popularity.  Indeed, to those whose special fondness in music is for the violin—and their name is legion—we predict that Miss Lavery will more than divide honors with Mr. Lewis.  The tone she draws from the violin is of exquisite richness, and she plays with the fire and abandon, but never-failing accuracy, of the real artist.  The future is big with promise for this young violinist.

MISS IRENE HARRUFF is a most artistic accompanist and gives sympathetic support to the other members of the company in their solos and the ensemble numbers for voice and violin.  Miss Harruff will also be heard in soprano solos and in duets with Mr. Lewis.  She possesses a beautiful voice of most excellent quality and a charming personality.

MISS AMBER HOPKINS, reader, assists in rounding out a most complete and artistic program.  Her readings and stories are given with such grace and charm as to make for her an important place as an individual artist and also add to the artistic finish of the program as a whole.  Miss Hopkins is a highly honored pupil of Elias Day, the well known director of the Lyceum Arts Conservatory of Chicago.






SAM LEWIS
Sam Lewis, Lyric Tenor, possesses a voice of the vibrant, robusto quality that you will be delighted to hear.  A singer in the first rank.





MISS RUTH LAVERY
Miss Ruth Lavery, violinist, one of the finest young artists of America, who is destined to attain to great things in the musical world.  An artist whose tone is unsurpassed.



PRESS ENDORSEMENTS
DECATUR, ILL.—Miss Ruth Lavery, instructor in violin playing in Millikin conservatory of music and one of the most talented musicians which the local institution has produced, has notified directors of the conservatory that she does not expect to continue her work here next year.



Successful as Teacher.
Students, instructors and others connected with the conservatory are much disappointed to learn of Miss Lavery's intention of leaving the institution, as she has attained remarkable success not only as a soloist, but as a teacher as well, and her loss from the faculty will be a severe one.

She has been a member of the faculty during the last three years.  While a student, and more particularly during the last two or three years, while on the faculty, she has appeared in numerous public recitals in which she displayed talent and personality of such a nature as to win for her hundreds of admirers among Decatur people interested in music.



Won State Honors.
Few conservatory students have scored greater success as soloists than Miss Lavery.  An evidence of her ability was shown last winter in the contest conducted in Peoria by Associated Musical clubs of Illinois, when she was awarded first place among violin students of the state who competed.


RICHMOND, KY., REGISTER.
—We gave Evan Williams $400 a little while ago for a recital.  Mr. Lewis sang for us last night for $150.  We are not making comparisons, but some of us enjoyed Mr. Lewis just as much as we did our friend Evan.

CHATAUQUA TENOR with the Grand Opera Quartette, Singing Opera Martha.—A feature of the quartette will be a group of songs by the famous Welsh tenor, Samuel Lewis.  He is declared by many competent critics to become one of the few great Welsh tenors of his generation.  Mr. Lewis has sung from the lakes to the gulf and from the Atlantic to the Pacific.






MISS IRENE HARRUFF
Miss Irene Harruff, accompanist and soprano, whose charm and musical attainments have given her a permanent place in concert work.





MISS AMBER HOPKINS
Miss Amber Hopkins, whose high attainments as an entertainer make friends for her everywhere and who possesses unusual personal attractiveness.



PRESS ENDORSEMENTS

DENNISON NEWS
—Elijah.  Among the soloists three old out-of-town friends appeared, Mrs. Maude Wentz McDonald of Columbus; Samuel Lewis, of New Castle, Pa., and James McMahon of Cleveland, O. The rendering of their parts fully sustained the reputation they had gained by former appearances.


NEWCASTLE NEWS.
—Creation.  Samuel Lewis, as the tenor soloist.  He is the well known and established favorite in this his home town.  He was greeted enthusiastically in each number.


UHRICHVILLE, O., CHRONICLE.
—Messiah.  Mr. Lewis sang the tenor solos of the Messiah.  To say that he made friends with the chorus and audience is evident because he is under contract for a reappearance next season for the tenor role of Elijah.


COVINGTON, O., TIMES
—Creation and Rose Maiden.  At our May festival Mr. Lewis, who was heard formerly in recital, did the tenor work on both nights.  Creation the first night and Rose Maiden the second.  His work is always of the highest order.


TAYLORVILLE, ILL.
—Miss Lavery, violin, here played Meditation by Massenet, and Souvenir, Drdla, demonstrating that the very complimentary things that have been said of her playing were quite inadequate.  There was no hesitancy in her attacks and the manner in which she carried her hearers through these two charming selections was truly remarkable.
Miss Lavery, playing Hejre Kati by Hubay and La Paloma by Yadier, won the distinction of the only curtain call of the evening.  The crowd seemed to have a belief that their only chance to hear this gifted girl was almost gone and they refused to let her go without just one more selection.  She was also the recipient of flowers at the close of her encore.





Endorsements by the Press.

NEW CASTLE HERALD.
—St. Paul.  Mr. Lewis was the tenor in the oratorio St. Paul.  His Be thou faithful unto death will long be remembered as the best singing he has yet done.
A tribute of no little moment is in the fact that Mr. Lewis has sung four times for New Castle, his home town, singing Gaul's Holy City, Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Creation and Mendelssohn's 'Elijah.'



SOUTH HAVEN, MICHIGAN.
—This artist not only possesses a tenor of robust type finely trained and beautiful in quality, but has a delightful personality; frank, modest and dignified.  His recital ranged from opera and oratorio to the ballads.


NEW CASTLE HERALD.
—(Editorial, Condensed).  We're proud of him.  Those folks who have the idea that nothing good came out of New Castle never heard Lewis warble.  They never felt the thrills that his voice produces when he opens his mouth and with that power that only a Welshman possesses, lets go a whole symphony.  Last night as we listened to him we believed we could see handsome God-like angels, the gleams of the golden stairs.


ALLIANCE, O., REVIEW.
—Samuel Lewis, the Welsh tenor more than came up to his reputation, singing every number of a heavy program with such ease and power that the audience sat back in their seats and enjoyed themselves for nearly two hours.  So immensely were they pleased that they were loath to go home.


NEWCASTLE NEWS
—Messiah, (Third Appearance.)  Mr. Lewis in the tenor role last night established again his claim on the music lovers of this place as its most popular tenor.


MARTIN FERRY, O., TIMES.
—Mr. Lewis's singing last night equalled anything we had heard on either side of the Atlantic.  We will hear great things of this young Welshman.  His singing of the oratorio numbers in his recital was highly artistic.

SIGNOR SACERDOTE, Ass't Cond. Chicago Grand Opera.—Mr. Lewis has a voice of such luscious quality that he is able to sing any style of music.


WARREN DAILY CHRONICLE
—Opera Il Trovatore.  A rare privilege it was to hear Samuel Lewis, the tenor, in his interpretation of Manrico.  The appreciation of the audience was manifested in no uncertain way.  His voice is rich in quality.  He sang with feeling, his charming personality lending itself to the dramatic part.  His phrasing was marked for its excellence.


DECATUR, (ILL.) HERALD.
—Miss Ruth Lavery of Decatur won the unusual distinction of being chosen as representative from Illinois to the district contest of the National Federation of Musical Clubs Tuesday afternoon when she was chosen as one of the winners in the state contest conducted in Peoria.
Miss Lavery has gained an enviable reputation in Decatur as a violinist of more than ordinary ability.



DECATUR (ILL.) REVIEW.
—A decided success was scored by Miss ruth A. Lavery in Morrow Hall at the University of Illinois Wednesday night when, as the first pupil to be accorded the honor of playing there, she vindicated the promises of teachers and a host of friends in her violin recital.  From the first note to the last Miss Lavery was a decided favorite with the audience.  The Rondino introduced Miss Lavery as a soloist and was artistically done, while the Scherzo by Van Goens was a decided hit.  In it the player had a splendid opportunity to show a well developed left hand technic and a fine spiccato bowing control.
The gypsy airs won for her the highest praise since it was a character so different in style from the other numbers.  Throughout this group of solos Miss Lavery showed unusual versatility.  The test of her ability, however, was saved for the closing number, for the G Minor Concerto tests the training and endurance of the greatest artist.  The task was accomplished in a highly creditable manner.


URBANA, ILL.—In the matter of technique, Miss Lavery is highly accomplished—the most difficult passages in runs, staccato, spiccato, double stops and harmonics were played last evening with quite astonishing ease and abandon, and the intonation even in the most perilous positions was generally notable for purity.  But the most remarkable feature of the young woman's artistic equipment is an exceedingly fine tone, which particularly on the G string, often suggests that of the 'cello in its richness, its depth.


Miss Lavery's best work was accomplished in the Beethoven-Kreisler Rondino, which was played with much charm, and lovely expression—and in the Bruch G. Minor Concerto, which gave her the opportunity to dazzle with her brilliant technique, and in the slow movement to sing one of the rarest melodies in the violinist's repertoire.—
COURIER.



MISS RUTH LAVERY




MISS IRENE HARRUFF