Ida Geer Weller

Ida Geer Weller (1881-1944) was an American concert singer and clubwoman.

Ida Geer Weller, from a 1920 publication.

Early life

Ida Geer was from Beaver, Pennsylvania.^[1]

Career

Ida Geer Weller (1913)

Ida Geer Weller was a mezzo-contralto. Her voice was described as being "of great range and flexibility, large in natural volume, but leading itself easily to lighter work."^[2] She started performing in Pittsburgh as a concert singer, and as president of the South Hills Choral Club.^[3] During World War I she substituted for a Pittsburgh church soloist who was called into military service; she was also a soloist at the city's YMCA celebration of the Fourth of July in 1918.^[4]

In New York, Weller performed concerts for radio.^[5][6] "I believe radio will have a marked effect on the people of tomorrow," she explained in a 1922 interview, "the children of today."^[7] She also wrote about music in essays such as "Music Aids His Return to Health" (1920)^[8] and "Songs Reflect Colors" (1921), in which she describes how a recital program is best assembled.^[9]

Weller was also interested in psychology. She gave an address on "The Psychology of Americanization" to the Psychology Club in Nashville, Tennessee,^[10] while she was in that city to perform.^[11] She also appeared as "guest of honor" of the Rotary Club in Nashville during her visit.^[12] In 1928 she was a leader of the New York chapters of Women of Mooseheart Legion, a women's auxiliary of the Loyal Order of Moose.^[13][14]

Later years in Beaver

She moved back to her hometown in Pennsylvania in 1934; that year, she started a "morning musicale" club in Beaver.^[15] In the late 1930s, she chaired an annual juried art exhibit in Beaver, and raised money for arts education.^[16][17] In 1938 she was director of the Music and Art Center of Beaver County.^[18] She died in 1944, in her early sixties.