Music
William Lavin
1864–1933 · tenor, voice teacher
Tenor raised in Detroit who returned after an international career to teach at the Michigan Conservatory and sing as soloist at Fort Street Presbyterian Church for two decades.
- Born
Green Island, New York- Died
Westland (Eloise), Michigan
aged 69- Also known as
- William J. Lavin
- Detroit years
- 1880–1933
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Lavin's family moved to Detroit in 1880, and he began studying voice there with J. D. Mehan; in December 1884 he was the tenor soloist with the Schumann Society at the Detroit Opera House. He trained in London with Alberto Randegger and William Shakespeare and in Italy, then toured widely as a concert and oratorio tenor. By 1904 he had settled back in Detroit, teaching from a studio in the Gladwin Building and on the voice faculty of the Michigan Conservatory of Music, while serving for years as the tenor soloist of Fort Street Presbyterian Church. He sang at the 1908 opening of the Grinnell Building on Woodward Avenue and in Detroit premieres with the Detroit Fine Arts Society, including the American premiere of Debussy's L'enfant prodigue in 1910. He lived his last years in Highland Park and died in 1933.
Highlights
- Tenor soloist with Detroit's Schumann Society at the Detroit Opera House, 1884
- Voice faculty of the Michigan Conservatory of Music from 1904
- Longtime tenor soloist at Fort Street Presbyterian Church
- Sang in the U.S. premiere of Debussy's L'enfant prodigue, Detroit, 1910
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · 1904–1920s
Fort Street Presbyterian Church (Jazz at Fort Street)
The Gothic Revival downtown church where Lavin was the longtime tenor soloist in residence.
Performed here · 1884
Detroit Opera House on Campus Martius (demolished)
Demolished · 1869–1966
Lavin sang as tenor soloist with the Schumann Society here in December 1884, in the original opera house that burned in 1897.