Fonds 26 - Speranza Musical Club fonds

The Speranza Musical Club for women musicians was founded in Toronto, Ontario in 1899 as the Practice Club by Mary Parsons (nee Hagarty), and formally established as the Speranza Musical Club in 1906. Hope Morgan, who opened a school of singing in Toronto in 1906, was the honorary president of the Club, and a formal constitution was written in 1907. By 1912, the Club had 58 members, and they set a membership limit at 60. The group, including pianists, vocalists, violinists, met regularly in members' homes, where they wrote and read papers on music and musicians, and held dress rehearsals for young artists prior to their first public appearances. During the First and Second World Wars, they held concerts to raise funds for the war effort, and volunteered and provided entertainment for patients at local Toronto hospital hospitals.