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...the judges were not impressed with Albert’s baritone voice and told him he should sing as a tenor!
Saturday Gab "38 Minutes" with information about HAL and Episode #402-Marta McDowell on Unearthing the Secret Garden, a look at Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic children’s book.
Mohawk Valley Weather and Dispatch of the News Headlines "Bottom of the Page"
December 25, Christmas Day 2021
Opera singer Albert Sochin Dacosta
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History
Amsterdam native Albert Sochin became a highly regarded opera singer in America and Europe. He performed as Albert Dacosta, using his mother’s maiden name.
Albert’s father was Joseph Sochin, member of a prominent Jewish family who operated Sochin’s men’s clothing store first on Guy Park Avenue then on Market Street. Albert’s mother, Violet Dacosta, was an Episcopalian, a member of St. Ann’s Church, where Albert was a boy soprano.
When Albert’s voice changed he sang baritone. He was in great demand. Reader Ken Garrick said his aunt recalled that Albert occasionally was a soloist at the then Second Presbyterian Church in Amsterdam with “a tremendous voice.” Albert performed at weddings, funerals, high school productions and concerts of Mohawk Mills Chorus, now Mohawk Valley Chorus.
In World War II Albert joined the Navy. He met H. Jean Rower from Toledo, Ohio at a Navy concert in Corpus Christi, Texas, where they were both performing. Albert and Jean married at the Corpus Christi Naval Base chapel in July 1945 and went on to have six children.
After the war Albert moved to New York City to study for three years at Juilliard music school. He auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera in 1952 on a live program on ABC television.
The judges were not impressed with Albert’s baritone voice and told him he should sing as a tenor! Albert set to work training. A year later impresario Charles L. Wagner said Albert was “one of the finest tenor voices” he had discovered.
Monday, December 27, 2021- Story Behind the Story podcast is an audio version of Saturday’s column on opera singer Albert Sochin DaCosta. Monday audio story "7 Minutes"
In 1954 the Met held another live television audition and tenor Albert Sochin Dacosta was one of the winners. He was signed to a contract for the 1955-56 Metropolitan Opera season.
An imposing man, Albert’s first role at the Met was as the sailor in “Tristan und Isolde.” At the end of 1955 he returned to Amsterdam to sing and raise money for the Rotary Club’s student loan program. Hugh Donlon of the Recorder wrote, “A remarkable voice notwithstanding, the nicest thing about him is his friendly way.”
By 1962 Albert concluded he was not getting enough work in America. He moved his family to Europe where, as he said, most cities with more than seventy-five thousand people have opera houses.
They lived in Switzerland where he sang in Zurich and then moved to Horrem, Germany, a suburb of Cologne where Albert was leading tenor of the Cologne Opera Company.
Historic Amsterdam League’s booklet “Amsterdam’s Arts” mentions Albert in connection with another Amsterdam-born opera singer, Genevieve Warner. Albert and his wife Jean were attendants at Warner’s wedding to Count Andrew Puslowski of Scarsdale, N.Y., in 1959.
Albert’s last trip to America was in 1966 when he visited his father in Amsterdam and his mother at a hospital in Tarrytown, New York. His mother returned with him to Europe to convalesce.
Albert Sochin Dacosta, died at age 39 in a 1967 automobile accident while driving to sing in a production of “Carmen” at the Jutland Opera in Denmark.
Albert’s car skidded on a sharp curve that was slippery from rain, leaving the highway, crashing through trees and overturning. Albert died instantly. The man with him, Dutch singer Jan Gerksen, was slightly injured.
Albert’s mother Violet died the next year in Briarcliff Manor, New York, where Albert’s widow Jean and her family may have moved. Jean Sochin soon relocated to Jamaica, Vermont and worked at a school district in Townshend.
Albert’s father, Joseph Sochin, died in 1969 while visiting his daughter-in-law in Vermont. Jean Sochin, pianist and vocalist in her own right, died in 2007 at age 87. She was survived by five of their six children, fifteen grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Tomorrow, Sunday, December 26, 2021-From the Archives- August 21. 2020-Episode 332-Colbert Nepaulsingh discusses his book “Walter Elwood: ‘Glitter’ and Other Unpublished Plays.” Amsterdam, N.Y.’s community museum is named for Elwood.
Christmas Day Weather in Amsterdam and The Mohawk Valley, Saturday, December 25, 2021
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM EST THIS
AFTERNOON...
* WHAT...Freezing rain. Additional ice accumulations of up to one
tenth of an inch.
* WHERE...Bennington County Vermont, the Berkshires in western
Massachusetts, the southern Adirondacks, Mohawk Valley and
Hudson Valley north of I-90.
* WHEN...Until 1 PM EST this afternoon.
* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Slow down and use caution while traveling.
...songs out of Boston
December 25, first work
1815
The Handel and Haydn Society
Mohawk Valley Headlines, Saturday, December 25, 2021
Daily Gazette
Rotterdam will allow marijuana dispensaries, consumption sites
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Amsterdam Recorder
A new home for the holidays: Amsterdam family gets wish with Habitat for Humanity’s help
AMSTERDAM — When the house across the street from her parents’ home was foreclosed on by the city, Megan Chichester…
AMSTERDAM — When the house across the street from her parents’ home was foreclosed on by the city, Megan Chichester…
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Leader Herald
Johnstown crossing guard making a name for himself
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View all episodes
By Bob Cudmore...the judges were not impressed with Albert’s baritone voice and told him he should sing as a tenor!
Saturday Gab "38 Minutes" with information about HAL and Episode #402-Marta McDowell on Unearthing the Secret Garden, a look at Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic children’s book.
Mohawk Valley Weather and Dispatch of the News Headlines "Bottom of the Page"
December 25, Christmas Day 2021
Opera singer Albert Sochin Dacosta
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History
Amsterdam native Albert Sochin became a highly regarded opera singer in America and Europe. He performed as Albert Dacosta, using his mother’s maiden name.
Albert’s father was Joseph Sochin, member of a prominent Jewish family who operated Sochin’s men’s clothing store first on Guy Park Avenue then on Market Street. Albert’s mother, Violet Dacosta, was an Episcopalian, a member of St. Ann’s Church, where Albert was a boy soprano.
When Albert’s voice changed he sang baritone. He was in great demand. Reader Ken Garrick said his aunt recalled that Albert occasionally was a soloist at the then Second Presbyterian Church in Amsterdam with “a tremendous voice.” Albert performed at weddings, funerals, high school productions and concerts of Mohawk Mills Chorus, now Mohawk Valley Chorus.
In World War II Albert joined the Navy. He met H. Jean Rower from Toledo, Ohio at a Navy concert in Corpus Christi, Texas, where they were both performing. Albert and Jean married at the Corpus Christi Naval Base chapel in July 1945 and went on to have six children.
After the war Albert moved to New York City to study for three years at Juilliard music school. He auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera in 1952 on a live program on ABC television.
The judges were not impressed with Albert’s baritone voice and told him he should sing as a tenor! Albert set to work training. A year later impresario Charles L. Wagner said Albert was “one of the finest tenor voices” he had discovered.
Monday, December 27, 2021- Story Behind the Story podcast is an audio version of Saturday’s column on opera singer Albert Sochin DaCosta. Monday audio story "7 Minutes"
In 1954 the Met held another live television audition and tenor Albert Sochin Dacosta was one of the winners. He was signed to a contract for the 1955-56 Metropolitan Opera season.
An imposing man, Albert’s first role at the Met was as the sailor in “Tristan und Isolde.” At the end of 1955 he returned to Amsterdam to sing and raise money for the Rotary Club’s student loan program. Hugh Donlon of the Recorder wrote, “A remarkable voice notwithstanding, the nicest thing about him is his friendly way.”
By 1962 Albert concluded he was not getting enough work in America. He moved his family to Europe where, as he said, most cities with more than seventy-five thousand people have opera houses.
They lived in Switzerland where he sang in Zurich and then moved to Horrem, Germany, a suburb of Cologne where Albert was leading tenor of the Cologne Opera Company.
Historic Amsterdam League’s booklet “Amsterdam’s Arts” mentions Albert in connection with another Amsterdam-born opera singer, Genevieve Warner. Albert and his wife Jean were attendants at Warner’s wedding to Count Andrew Puslowski of Scarsdale, N.Y., in 1959.
Albert’s last trip to America was in 1966 when he visited his father in Amsterdam and his mother at a hospital in Tarrytown, New York. His mother returned with him to Europe to convalesce.
Albert Sochin Dacosta, died at age 39 in a 1967 automobile accident while driving to sing in a production of “Carmen” at the Jutland Opera in Denmark.
Albert’s car skidded on a sharp curve that was slippery from rain, leaving the highway, crashing through trees and overturning. Albert died instantly. The man with him, Dutch singer Jan Gerksen, was slightly injured.
Albert’s mother Violet died the next year in Briarcliff Manor, New York, where Albert’s widow Jean and her family may have moved. Jean Sochin soon relocated to Jamaica, Vermont and worked at a school district in Townshend.
Albert’s father, Joseph Sochin, died in 1969 while visiting his daughter-in-law in Vermont. Jean Sochin, pianist and vocalist in her own right, died in 2007 at age 87. She was survived by five of their six children, fifteen grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Tomorrow, Sunday, December 26, 2021-From the Archives- August 21. 2020-Episode 332-Colbert Nepaulsingh discusses his book “Walter Elwood: ‘Glitter’ and Other Unpublished Plays.” Amsterdam, N.Y.’s community museum is named for Elwood.
Christmas Day Weather in Amsterdam and The Mohawk Valley, Saturday, December 25, 2021
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM EST THIS
AFTERNOON...
* WHAT...Freezing rain. Additional ice accumulations of up to one
tenth of an inch.
* WHERE...Bennington County Vermont, the Berkshires in western
Massachusetts, the southern Adirondacks, Mohawk Valley and
Hudson Valley north of I-90.
* WHEN...Until 1 PM EST this afternoon.
* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Slow down and use caution while traveling.
...songs out of Boston
December 25, first work
1815
The Handel and Haydn Society
Mohawk Valley Headlines, Saturday, December 25, 2021
Daily Gazette
Rotterdam will allow marijuana dispensaries, consumption sites
The town of Rotterdam will allow for marijuana dispensaries and on-site consumption locations in town, despite residents’ comments to opt-out before…
https://dailygazette.com/
Amsterdam Recorder
A new home for the holidays: Amsterdam family gets wish with Habitat for Humanity’s help
AMSTERDAM — When the house across the street from her parents’ home was foreclosed on by the city, Megan Chichester…
AMSTERDAM — When the house across the street from her parents’ home was foreclosed on by the city, Megan Chichester…
https://www.recordernews.com/
Leader Herald
Johnstown crossing guard making a name for himself
https://www.leaderherald.com/