Portia White (1911-1968) achieved international fame for her rich contralto voice and her majestic stage presence.
Portia White first felt the thrill of music when at the age of six she joined the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church choir in Halifax. Her father, William Andrew, was the pastor there and her mother Izie was the choir director. As Portia and her talent became known, Nova Scotians rallied behind her. An admiring farmer named a variety of apple after her! The Halifax Ladies’ Musical Club gave her a scholarship for her studies, and the Nova Scotia Talent Trust was created especially to assist her career. After a much-praised 1944 performance at the Town Hall in New York City, Portia spent ten years touring North and South America. When ill health forced her to retire, she settled in Toronto and taught some of Canada’s foremost pop singers of the day, including future Camelot star Robert Goulet, Dinah Christie, Don Francks and TV’s Friendly Giant, Bob Homme.
Portia White has been declared "a person of national historic significance" by the Government of Canada, and she was featured in a special issue of Millennium postage stamps celebrating Canadian achievement. Author lian goodall has written a wonderful book about Portia - see www.liangoodall.com/books/portia_white.html.
A CD containing excerpts from three Portia White concerts held in 1944-45 has been created with the assistance of the National Library of Canada Sound Recording Division. To order Portia White's "First You Dream" CD, contact Chris White. The price is $20 Cdn. plus shipping charges of $4.