| Abstract: |
Carmela Cafarelli (ca. 1880-1979) was an Italian-American opera star, founder of an opera company, and accomplished harpist
from Cleveland, Ohio. Her father, Rocco Cafarelli, was a renowned Italian harpist who had immigrated to Cleveland in the 1880s,
and was his daughter's earliest teacher. At the age of eight, she began study with master harpist Henry B. Fabiani in Cleveland.
As a harpist, she toured the United States and abroad. She also became a solo harpist for the Cleveland Orchestra. Cafarelli
studied voice with William Saal in Cleveland, and later attended the Conservatorie Santa Lucia and the Reale Accademia Filarmonica
Romana in Italy, earning diplomas in both voice and harp. After her return to the United States in 1924, she undertook additional
musical studies with Benjamino Gigli and Pietro Audisio of the New York Metropolitan Opera. In 1929, she returned to Cleveland,
and in 1934, founded the Cafarelli Opera Company. This group toured throughout the United States and put on many charitable
performances in Northeast Ohio. Cafarelli stopped performing in 1945, but continued to head her opera company and became a
leading philanthropist and promoter of the arts in Cleveland. The collection consists of individual portraits of Carmela
Cafarelli, including publicity and performance photographs, family photographs including portraits of her father, Rocco Cafarelli,
and portraits of Cafarelli family friends and associates.
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