Cosmé McMoon
Cosmé McMoon (February 22, 1901 - August 22, 1980) was an American pianist and composer, best known as the accompanist to notably tone-deaf soprano Florence Foster Jenkins.[1]
Born as Cosmé McMunn in Mapimí, Mexico in 1901,[2] he moved with his family to San Antonio, Texas around 1911. He moved to New York City around 1920 to further his musical studies, and likely adopted the McMoon surname around that time.[3] Jenkins met McMoon in the late 1920s, and knowing McMoon was a concert pianist, eventually asked him to help her prepare for her performances and accompany her.[4]
McMoon resided in New York City until his death in August 1980, and was buried in San Antonio.[2][5]
Legacy
McMoon is portrayed and serves as the narrator of the play Souvenir about Jenkins' career, which ran on Broadway in 2004 and has since been staged in many regional theaters.[6][7]
A claim that McMoon was actually a pseudonym of pianist Edwin McArthur is not true. In a 1991 rebroadcast of an old interview with McMoon done before his death in 1980, the announcer afterwards states that he has found out that McMoon was Arthur.[4]
References
- ↑ McKinnon, George (31 August 1980). Scene Changes for Two Stage Groups, Boston Globe
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 (25 August 1980). Deaths, The New York Times (death notice)
- ↑ (23 March 1936). Cosme McMoon's Recital, The New York Times (reporting on McMoon's "first New York recital at the Town Hall" the previous night. States he was born in Texas and educated there, and than "an audience of moderate size" attended)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Interview With Cosme McMoon (transcript from rebroadcast of interview in 1991), from archive.org
- ↑ Taylor, Robert (9 September 1980). Cosme McMoon: Man of Miracles, Boston Globe
- ↑ Brantley, Ben. Review of Souvenir, The New York Times
- ↑ (7 May 2010). When Singing So Bad Wasn’t So Good, The New York Times