Augustana Lutheran Church of Hyde Park

Funeral, September 7, 2 pm, music begins at 1:30 pm

Elsa Charlston, a celebrated interpreter of twentieth-century music who premiered many compositions by prominent composers, passed away peacefully on June 5, 2024, at her home in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. She was 91 years old.

Peter G. Davis, writing for The New York Times in 1974, noted of her New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall that “the soprano devoted the larger part of her concert to 20th century songs, making it clear why composers are happy to entrust her with their music. Aside from the beguiling tonal purity of her voice, precision in pitching notes, rhythmic sense and clarity of diction, Miss Charlston projects the special emotional flavor of each song with thoughtful coloristic nuances rarely cultivated by the typical “instrumentally” oriented contemporary music singer.”

Born and raised in northern Minnesota, Elsa evidenced unusual musical abilities at an early age. “Everybody in the family could sing,” she said. Family songfests consisted of Schubert, Bach, Mozart and all the fine composers. “I had a great musical education, played piano and sang in school, church, and home.” And yet, Elsa never considered a career as a singer. “I was raised to love music, not to make a living at it.” Attending St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, Elsa became a soloist with the legendary St. Olaf Choir.

Later in the mid-1960’s, Elsa, then considered a mezzo soprano, discovered “this astonishingly high voice” that eventually took her to an international career most renowned for her interpretations of 20th-century music.

An integral member of Ralph Shapey’s Contemporary Chamber Players at the University of Chicago, Elsa also appeared as soprano soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the batons of Sir Georg Solti and Carlo Maria Giulini, the Milwaukee Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, in London with the BBC Symphony as well as with many of the nation’s leading new music ensembles.

Elsa toured England and Germany with the Boston Musica Viva, singing Lukas Foss’s “Time Cycle,” Oliver Knussen’s “Rosenkranz Lieder,” and Luciano Berio’s “O King.” In London, Elsa gave the United Kingdom premiere of David del Tredici’s “Adventures Underground” with the BBC Symphony and was also featured at the Almeida Festival, at the Edinburgh Festival and in Amsterdam at the Holland Festival. In Austria, she studied and performed at the Franz Schubert Institute in Baden near Vienna.

Elsa made her opera debut with the Santa Fe Opera in the American Premiere of Alban Berg’s Lulu and appeared with the Chicago Lyric Opera. She was a guest soloist with the Festival of Baroque Music in Saratoga, NY, the Baltimore Chamber Music Society, the First Monday Contemporary Chamber Ensemble in New Orleans, the Don Redlich Dance Company (Pierrot Lunaire), the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival and the Tanglewood Music Center.

Her numerous television and radio appearances include performances on the BBC and Westdeutscher Rundfunk in Europe and NBC, WGN-TV and WFMT in Chicago. Elsa’s recordings are on CRI, Opus One, Delos, Northeastern and The Musical Heritage Society.

Throughout her career, Elsa was recognized as a leading voice teacher both through her own private studio and later as a longtime faculty member at DePaul University, where she retired in 2011. Several students have gone on to have major international careers, including Metropolitan Opera soprano Janai Brugger, who says “She was so much more than a teacher. She was a mentor, a brilliant musician, recitalist, and a pioneer of new works and art songs. I owe so much of who I am today as an artist to her.”

Elsa is survived by her two children, Rondi Charleston of Westport, Connecticut and Erik Charlston of New York City (both professional musicians), their spouses, Steve Ruchefsky and Talcott Camp, and her three grandchildren, Emma, Luke and Jake as well as many nieces and nephews. Elsa is also survived by her first husband Rolf Charlston of New York City and pre-deceased by her second husband, composer Ralph Shapey.

There will be a memorial service for Elsa on September 7th at Augustana Lutheran Church, 5500 S Woodlawn Ave, Chicago, at 2 PM. Music will begin at 1:30 PM.