Ellen Beach Yaw

Ellen Beach Yaw (September 14, 1869 – September 9, 1947) was an American coloratura soprano, best known for her concert career and extraordinary vocal range, and for originating the title role in Arthur Sullivan's comic opera The Rose of Persia (1899).

After she undertook American and European concert tours in 1894 and 1895, Yaw was heard by Sullivan at a private concert in London and arranged for her to be cast as the lead in The Rose of Persia. Yaw received mixed reviews in the role, and Helen Carte dismissed her after less than two weeks. After further vocal studies, Yaw made her grand opera debut as Ophelia in Ambroise Thomas's Hamlet in Nice, France, in 1903 or 1904. She eventually performed about 18 leading opera roles. In 1908, she gave a single performance of the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, her only appearance there. She continued to perform on concert tours and at charitable benefits for the next several decades.