Constance L. Balfour (born Constance Lell Loucks; 1880 – January 28, 1965) was an American soprano singer.

Early life Balfour was born Constance Lell Loucks in 1880 in Michigan. She grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska"Choir Gives Musical" Lincoln Nebraska State Journal (November 29, 1901): 3. via NewspaperArchive.com"Gutzmer Studio" Sunday Journal and Star (September 5, 1937): 25. via NewspaperArchive.com and in Houston, Texas as a young woman."Constance Balfour Was Highly Praised" The Houston Post (April 10, 1918): 8. via Newspapers.com"Concert Daughters of the Covenant" The Houston Post (February 21, 1909): 39. via Newspapers.com She studied voice in Paris, Berlin, and London, and toured Italy, Germany, and South Africa as well, giving concerts."Advertisement" Musical Monitor (August 1915): 528."The Balfour Concert Company" The Neodesha Daily Sun (December 6, 1909): 2. via Newspapers.com

Career In 1909 and 1910, Balfour headed the Constance Balfour Concert Company, a small touring group."Tonight" The Chickasha Daily Express (November 26, 1909): 8. via Newspapers.com"Great Singer Will Appear in Paducah" News-Democrat (March 5, 1910): 5. via Newspapers.com She toured the East Coast of the United States in 1918–1919."Constance Balfour Engaged by Theater" Los Angeles Herald (June 10, 1919): 24. via California Digital Newspaper Collection During that time, she appeared in the summer "Stadium concerts" in New York City."Constance Balfour in Stadium Debut" Musical America (July 12, 1918): 14. During World War I she sang at a concert for sailors at Pelham Bay Naval Station,"Delights Pelham Sailors" Musical America (July 27, 1918): 19. for soldiers at Fort Totten on Long Island,"Trio of Artists Brings Musical Cheer to Fort Totten Troops" Musical America (June 8, 1918): 38. and at war relief concerts for Liberty Loans and the American Red Cross."Constance Balfour, Soprano, Winning Recognition in East" Musical America (June 8, 1918): 33."Open Red Cross Building" Musical America (June 8, 1918): 43.

She returned to California by the end of 1919."Miss Balfour to be Soloist at Belvedere" Morning Press (August 31, 1919): 5. via California Digital Newspaper Collection On December 25, 1919, she sang at the first outdoor concert given by the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra."Tandler's Outdoor Concert" Musical America (January 17, 1920): 44. She sang for the Santa Monica Bay Woman's Club in 1920, accompanied by composer Charles T. Ferry,"Constance Balfour Sings for Club" Musical Courier (February 19, 1920): 42. and at the Easter sunrise service in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles."Easter Sunrise Services" Musical Courier (May 6, 1920): 54."Los Angeles Enjoys Concerts at Dawn" Musical America (April 17, 1920): 14. She sang a program of songs by Ralph Cox for the MacDowell Club in Los Angeles, with the composer accompanying her on piano."Ralph Cox Popular in Los Angeles" Musical Courier (May 27, 1920): 47. She sang songs by women composers, including Grace Adele Freebey,"Notes" Musical Courier (December 21, 1922): 12. Helen Lukens Gant,"Cadman Club in Fine Program" The Los Angeles Times (March 18, 1928): 67. via Newspapers.com Gertrude Ross,"Ross Giving Composition Recitals" Musical Courier (December 7, 1922): 48. Josephine Johnston,"Society" The Los Angeles Times (February 16, 1916): 18. via Newspapers.com and Bessie Bartlett Frankel."Los Angeles the Scene of State M. T. Convention" Musical Courier (August 3, 1922): 38. She also gave voice lessons, from a studio at Blanchard Hall in Los Angeles."Notes" Musical Courier (October 2, 1919): 33.

Balfour sang on radio in 1923."Boredom Hosts Routed by KHJ" The Los Angeles Times (March 14, 1923): 21. via Newspapers.com She toured Europe and studied in Italy and France from 1924 to 1927, while her teenaged daughter was there to study music and rest."Singer to Live in Rome and Paris" The Los Angeles Times (September 14, 1924): 32. via Newspapers.com"Constance Balfour Resumes High Place" The Los Angeles Times (December 25, 1927): 53. via Newspapers.com In 1931 she gave a concert series in Los Angeles."Soprano Begins Concert Series" The Los Angeles Times (October 25, 1931): 39. via Newspapers.com

Personal life Constance Loucks was married to fellow singer Henry Balfour, also billed as Henri Le Bonti, when the couple appeared together in Los Angeles in 1907Genevra Johnstone-Bishop, "The Musical World" Los Angeles Herald (December 6, 1907): 6. via Newspapers.com and in 1910.Florence Beard Lawrence, "Musical" The Los Angeles Times (October 11, 1910): 5. via Newspapers.com They were divorced, apparently amicably, by 1915, saying "Why should we dislike each other? We sincerely admire one another as man and woman, as fellow beings and as artists"."L. A. Singers in Unique Pact" Los Angeles Herald (December 22, 1915): 1. via California Digital Newspaper Collection She was married to Albert Hitchen later in life. She died on January 28, 1965, aged 84 years, at her home in San Luis Obispo, California."Constance Balfour, Opera Star, Dies" Oakland Tribune (January 29, 1965): 23. via Newspapers.com

Her daughter Eveline Alberta Balfour (1907-1993), a pianist and singer, was in headlines as a teenager in 1924, when she went missing for a few days and was rumored to be kidnapped."Missing Daughter of Singer; Search for Girl Extended" The Los Angeles Times (January 5, 1924): 23. via Newspapers.com"Missing Girl is Thought Kidnaped" Lincoln Journal Star (January 14, 1924): 2. via Newspapers.com"Police Drop Quiz in Adventure of Eveline Balfour" The Los Angeles Times (January 10, 1924): 30. via Newspapers.com She was found in an altered mental state, "victim of adolescent breakdown," according to the Los Angeles Times."Girl Composer, 16, Loses Mind" The Los Angeles Times (January 7, 1924): 1. via Newspapers.com Soon after, she and her mother went to Paris for a few years. She married a French man, Andre Gaudet, in 1927;Juana Neal Levy, "Society" The Los Angeles Times (March 11, 1927): 22. via Newspapers.com she was later known as Yvonne Doray"Contest Winner Sings" The Los Angeles Times (August 4, 1935): 44. via Newspapers.com and Yvonne Barishaw."Opera Singer Constance Balfour Dies" The Los Angeles Times (January 29, 1965): 40. via Newspapers.com

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A photograph of Constance Balfour's daughter, Eveline, from about 1924, from the Los Angeles Times Photographic Archives at UCLA.