BERRY GREENING, EMILY [GREENING, Emily Eliza] (b 3 Carlton Cottages, Stoke Newington, London, 5 February 1838; d Los Angeles, 27 May 1915)

This chapter presents a biography of mid- to late-19th-century vocalist Emily Berry Greening. The name of the soprano known as Miss Berry Greening was a decidedly familiar one in the London concert world. Emily Greening apparently made a late start as a professional vocalist, after a period spent as a schoolmistress. When Emily's talent for music showed itself, she was evidently sent to study abroad. She said, on one occasion, that it was at the Paris Conservatoire. Miss Berry won several other engagements during the last weeks of the season. Emily advertised her 'return from the Continent' and her song, and her advertisements solicited not only 'engagements' but also 'pupils'. February 10, 1866 was a landmark date for Miss Berry. On the one hand she now announced (liberally) in the press her intention henceforth to be known as 'Miss Berry Greening', and in tandem she announced, in multiple adjacent advertisements, the first concert of her own at St James's Hall.