Edith Best facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Edith Best
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Edith Oldham |
| Born | 11 July 1865 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 9 March 1950 (aged 84) |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | piano |
Edith Best (born July 11, 1865, died March 9, 1950) was a talented Irish musician. She helped start a very important music festival called the Feis Ceoil.
Contents
Edith Best's Early Life and Education
Edith Best was born in Dublin, Ireland, on July 11, 1865. She was the youngest of 14 children. Her father, Eldred Oldham, was a merchant in Dublin.
Edith had some very accomplished siblings. Her sister, Alice Oldham, was one of the first women to earn a university degree in Great Britain or Ireland. Her brother, Charles Hubert Oldham, became the first professor of economics at University College Dublin.
Learning Music and Winning Awards
Edith loved music from a young age. She studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM). There, she learned from famous teachers like Margaret O'Hea and Robert Prescott Stewart.
In 1883, Edith won a special award called the Lord O'Hagan's prize. That same year, she was one of only three students to win a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London. By 1887, she became an associate of the College after passing a tough exam. She was also good friends with the College's director, Sir George Grove. They wrote many letters to each other over the years.
Her Family Life
In 1906, Edith married Richard Irvine Best. She was 41 and he was 34. They lived in Dublin. Edith Best passed away at her home in Dublin when she was 84 years old. She is buried in Deans Grange Cemetery.
Edith Best's Musical Career and Impact
Edith Best returned to the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) in 1887. She became a piano teacher there and taught until 1932. She was the first woman teacher at the RIAM to have a music diploma. She also helped Michele Esposito as an examiner for music students.
Starting the Feis Ceoil Music Festival
One of Edith's biggest achievements was helping to create the Feis Ceoil. This is a very important music festival in Ireland. She took on a lot of responsibility to organize it. Under her leadership, it became an annual event.
In 1898, Edith explained that the Feis Ceoil was started to "do more for the art of music in Ireland than anything which has yet been attempted." She hoped it would become as important as the Welsh Eisteddfod, another famous festival. She even visited the Eisteddfod with Joseph Seymour and Edward Fournier to compare it with the Feis.
Edith worked with Eoin MacNeill and the Gaelic League to promote the Feis. She also helped organize prizes for the festival. Thanks to her, the festival included more than just traditional Irish music. She was the honorary secretary of the Feis Ceoil Association from 1896 to 1905. Then, she became vice-president from 1905 until she passed away in 1950.
Other Musical Contributions
Edith Best was also a founding member of the Dublin Orchestral Society in 1899. In 1927, she took over from Michele Esposito as the director of music at Alexandra College in Dublin.
She was recognized for her contributions to music. In 1892, she became an associate of the Royal Dublin Society. In 1938, she was made a fellow of the RIAM.
