Sault Ste. Marie has lost one of its own whose professional singing voice was admired on both sides of the Atlantic.
Doreen Hume — a soprano singing star and theatre performer who enjoyed a long career on Canadian and British radio shows and in live concerts — died at Sault Area Hospital July 2, just two weeks before her 96th birthday.
She spent her golden years living in Elliot Lake.
“I’m very proud of mom’s career,” said Hume’s daughter, Jeanne Basteris, speaking to SooToday from her home on St. Joseph Island.
“It was fun growing up because I got to be exposed to all kinds of music. My greatest joy was going with mom to her rehearsals and performances. When people ask me about my upbringing I refer to myself as ‘a backstage baby.’”
“She had a fabulous voice. She had a good stage presence. She was a pretty woman. Every child would like to have someone glamorous like that as a mother.”
Hume was admired in her field and worked alongside some well-known figures as a professional singer in musical comedy and operatic performances.
Basteris said the legendary Canadian pianist Glenn Gould referred to Hume as "the girl with the beautiful voice."
Famous lyricist and theatrical producer Oscar Hammerstein wanted to collaborate with Hume on a project but Hammerstein died before that project materialized.
Basteris said her favourite performance by her mother is of the song Rusalka: Song to the Moon by 19th century composer Antonin Dvorak.
“It is a fabulous piece of music and she put herself right into it. It was wonderful.”
“I remember hundreds of concerts,” Basteris said.
Basteris said one of Hume’s favourite concerts took place in Italy, in which she and the BBC Radio Orchestra represented Britain in a European Song Contest. It was an open-air concert held before thousands of spectators in Venice’s famous Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square).
“I wasn’t a witness to that concert but the one she did in St. Mark’s Square was quite outstanding and made her very proud to represent Britain in that contest. She kept the dress she used for that performance for years. It was a special dress for her.”
Born in the Sault as Doreen Hulme, she later dropped the ‘l’ in her surname upon entering the entertainment world.
At 18, Hume left the Sault to study music and voice at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music. She became a well-known singer on Canadian radio and television before moving to Britain in the early 1950s to further her singing career.
“There was the option of going to the U.S. or going to England. She felt more comfortable with going to England because many members of her family were there,” Basteris said.
Basteris spent her childhood in Britain with her mother before coming to Canada in 1968.
Hume returned to Canada several times over the years for concerts in Toronto and Sault Ste Marie. When the original Memorial Gardens opened in 1949, Hume was asked to perform the opening concert.
In Britain, her weekly BBC radio shows were heard across western Europe, and she performed many concerts at venues such as The Royal Albert Hall as well as Canterbury Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral.
Hume’s career included more than 2,000 live broadcasts, hundreds of concert and stage performances, more than 300 variety show appearances and many commercial recordings of popular Broadway and West End shows.
Hume returned to Canada in 1970, first to Toronto then Elliot Lake.
In Elliot Lake, she worked with local amateur theatre groups.
Hume lived in Elliot Lake until, at age 95, she became a resident at Extendicare Maple View in Sault Ste Marie.
Locally, she worked as a voice teacher and served as a Bon Soo judge.
Admiring her mother’s long career as a singer, Basteris shared her favourite memory of Hume as a mother.
“One night we were coming home in downtown London and I would’ve been nine or 10 years old. We were standing on the street after a concert and it was cold, and I remember mom was wearing a fur coat. I was cold and she said: ‘Okay come on in here,’ so she opened her coat and I went inside. The coat was double breasted so she could wrap it around me and still keep herself warm. I was in this kind of cocoon. I remember so vividly her scent. Everyone has their own scent and mom had a particular scent that was light and very feminine.”
“That has stayed with me for years. Every time I went into her house after I’d been away for a while the scent hit me. It was very emotional, a feeling of total protection and warmth.”
Hume was honoured by the City of Sault Ste. Marie by being included on the community’s Walk of Fame in 2009.
“It’s nice to know she’ll be remembered,” Basteris said.
“I hope that anyone who is interested in knowing more about her might be able to go on to an audio streaming service like Spotify and just listen to her voice. If anyone has a chance to hear her sing, go for it because her voice brings opera into you.”
“Her voice was a joy to listen to.”