Local Talent at the San Francisco Opera: Flossita Badger

source: San Francisco Opera Company. Annual season, 1925-1926

During the early seasons of the San Francisco Opera, the company hired internationally known stars for lead parts. Smaller, yet important, roles were handled by Bay Area talent. Flossita Badger sang in a handful of these parts between 1923 and 1934.

Born in Vermont in 1899, Flossita Badger grew up in California’s Central Valley. She moved to San Jose to attend the Conservatory of Music at the College of the Pacific where she graduated in Public School Music. Howard Hanson, then on the composition faculty, dedicated his opus 10 song "Exaltation" to her. 

After graduation she became a high school teacher, teaching music in Chowchilla and San Luis Obispo before being appointed head of the Music Department at Lowell High School in San Francisco. She took leave during this time to study opera in France and Italy.  During that time she performed with the San Carlo Opera Company in Naples.

Badger played one of the two lay-sisters ("due converse") in Puccini's Suor Angelica in the San Francisco Opera’s inaugural 1923 season. In 1925 she appeared in von Flotow’s Martha and later also played roles in Gounod’s Faust and Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor during the 1926 season. 

Alfred Metzger wrote favorably of the latter performance in the Pacific Coast Musical Review: "as Alice [Badger] revealed a very delightful voice and interpreted her role in a manner decidedly satisfactory."

During these years she was a regular in the Opera Chorus.  She also sang as a member of the San Francisco Opera on the airwaves of KPO.  At the same time, Flossita Badger was also a frequent vocal recitalist in the Bay Area.  She married her piano accompanist Lincoln Batchelder in 1931.

Flossita Badger (image source: San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection)

In 1935 she was selected to head the Music Department at the newly established San Francisco Junior College (today known as the City College of San Francisco). There she directed the A Cappella Choir and organized many opera workshops. The Examiner's Alexander Fried described her as the "skilled, lively director" of the opera program. While on the faculty of City College she took a six month sabbatical to continue her studies at Columbia University and Julliard. Throughout her performance career, Flossita Badger appeared on the radio, gave solo recitals, and performed with other opera troupes. She died in San Francisco in 1961, one year after retiring from City College.

Bibliography:

"Choir Director Returns in Spring from Sabbatical Leave in NY," The Guardsman January 20, 1948.

Directory of Secondary and Normal Schools for The School Year 1919-1920 (California. State Board of Education, 1919).

"Flossita Badger," San Francisco Examiner September 22, 1929.

"Flossita Badger Dies Here," San Francisco Chronicle March 28, 1961

"Flossita Badger, Musician," [obituary] San Francisco Examiner March 28, 1961.

Fried, Alexander, "Opera Excerpts Bring Campion Festival to End," San Francisco Examiner August 30, 1952.

Howard Hanson Collection: Series 3: Manuscripts (Sibley Music Library, Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester).

Metzger, Alfred, "Winter Opera Season at Columbia Theatre Artistic Success," Pacific Coast Musical Review January 5, 1926

"Jr. College Music," San Francisco Examiner September 8, 1935.

"Reception to Girls at College of Pacific," San Jose Mercury-News October 14, 1917

"Roseville High School," Placer Herald June 21, 1913.

"S.F. Musicians Plan Troth," San Francisco Chronicle January 4, 1931.

"Training Teachers Lags in America, Says Columbia Man; Spirited Talk at High School," Santa Cruz Evening News October 19, 1920.

"Varied Musical Fare to Be Broadcast by KPO," San Francisco Examiner September 16, 1926.

"Voice Students Given Opera Training Chance," San Francisco Examiner October 31, 1948

Most requested Art, Music & Recreation Center books (Dewey 700s) - March 2023

It's not surprising to see our list topped with a celebrity autobiography like Love, Pamela by actress Pamela Anderson. Rock star autobiographies also popular with U-2 front man Bono's Surrender and Los Angeles punk rocker King Congo Powers' Some New Kind of Kick. Another popular book in this category is A Heart that Works, actor-comedian Rob Delany's memoir of losing a young child.

The Grand Affair is being regarded as the definitive biography of prolific American expatriate artist  John Singer Sargent whose paintings are currently on display at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor.

There are two sports related titles. Good for A Girl by Lauren Fleshman is both a memoir and a work of advocacy for young women runners. The Inner Game of Tennis, published 15 years ago, is a surprising title on a list of otherwise current titles showing that must continue to provide insights into achieving success in that competitive sport.

Interior design books are consistently popular at the San Francisco Public Library. How to Live with Objects, Patina Modern and Home Therapy are the latest titles to appeal to our patrons.  Ballet books also circulate well and there are two new works on that subject on our list. Mr. B. is a biography of famed choreographer George Balanchine; The Wind at My Back is a memoir by African-American ballerina Misty Copeland who pays tribute to pioneering ballerina Raven Wilkinson who served as an important inspiration to her.

Women Holding Things is a collection of art and essays by another San Francisco favorite, Maira Kalman. The most surprising title on the list is The Architecture of Suspense. This university press title mixes architectural history with the corpus of director Alfred Hitchcock's films.

Happy reading!

Love, Pamela by Pamela Anderson (Dey St., 2023).

Good for A Girl: A Woman Running in A Man's World by Lauren Fleshman (Penguin Press, 2023).

The Grand Affair: John Singer Sargent in His World by Paul Fisher (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022).

Patina Modern: A Guide to Designing Warm, Timeless Interiors by Chris Mitchell and Pilar Guzman (Artisan, 2022).

How to Live with Objects: A Modern Guide to More Meaningful Interiors by Monica Khemsurov & Jill Singer; photographs by Charlie Schuck (Clarkson Potter/Publisher, 2022).

The Architecture of Suspense: The Built World in The Films of Alfred Hitchcock by Christine Madrid French (University of Virginia Press, 2022).

Home Therapy: Interior Design for Increasing Happiness, Boosting Confidence, and Creating Calm by Anita Yokota, principal photography by Ali Harper, additional photography by Sara Ligorria-Tramp (Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2022).

A Heart that Works by Rob Delaney (Spiegel and Grau, 2022).

Mr. B: George Balanchine's 20th Century by Jennifer Homans (Random House, 2022).

Surrender: 40 songs, One Story by Bono (Alfred A. Knopf, 2022).

The Wind at My Back: Resilience, Grace, and Other Gifts from My Mentor, Raven Wilkinson by Misty Copeland, with Susan Fales-Hill (Grand Central Publishing, 2022).

The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to The Mental Side of Peak Performance by W. Timothy Gallwey (Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2008).

Some New Kind of Kick: A Memoir by Kid Congo Powers with Chris Campion (Hachette Books, 2022).

Women Holding Things, text and art by Maira Kalman (Harper Design, 2022).