Alice Ellen Laurentine Charbonnet (12 December 1862, Cincinnati, Ohio – 1 July 1914, 14th arrondissement, Paris, FranceDeath certificate, Archives de Paris, 14D 271, p.20, n°3347), daughter of Amable Charbonnet and Ellen Jackson Teaching Melba – Alice Charbonnet, Nellie MelbMuseum, was an Australian composer of romantic and classical music. Her father was a French judge, and her formative years were spent in a variety of countries. She married violinist Frederick William Kellermann; their daughter Annette Kellermann was a long-distance swimmer, vaudeville entertainer, film actress, and educator.
Alice and Frederick established a music school in Phillip Street, Sydney, and Alice became a distinguished figure on Sydney's concert scene. She gave many afternoon recitals at gatherings at Phillip Street and at her home in Potts Point, and appeared in many larger concerts. After moving to Melbourne in 1901 without her husband, Alice became a music teacher at Simpson's School, Mentone, where she commanded a high fees because of her experience and the high results she obtained with students. In 1907 she retired to Paris, but continued giving concerts.
She is buried in Père Lachaise cemetery in ParisArchives de Paris, Registres journaliers d'inhumation, Père Lachaise, 3rd July 1914, p.18, n°2185 .
Her piano students included Dame Nellie Melba, composer Lydia Larner and May Summerbelle
Works 1892 Saltarella in A minor 1898 Le train du diable, galop de concert Ye Olde English Dances Tarantella Mappari Brise de mer Remembrance, song Danse Mexicaine Ave Maria, for solo voice, violin and piano or organ"Ave Maria", score, via Trove
References
Further reading
"Alice Ellen Charbonnet: a French musician in nineteenth-century Australia" by J. G. Bong, 2006 Masters thesis, Faculty of Music, University of Melbourne
External links