Collection Overview
- 198 scores, some partial sketches
Resources
The Ewald and Kathryn Reece Haun Collection consists of 198 items, mostly manuscript scores and parts. Included are compositions by Ewald and Kathryn Haun as well as transcriptions and arrangements of works by other composers.
Ewald Bernhard Haun (1891-January 1939) was a German flutist and composer born in Oakland, CA. He studied composition and counterpoint in Germany with Barlassieve. After moving back to the United States, Haun played with numerous ensembles including the Cincinnati Orchestra, Summer Symphony Orchestra, Times-Star Orchestra, and performed regularly in recitals. One such engagement was as an accompanying player for singer Amelita Galli-Curci who was performing with her husband, pianist Homer Samuels, at the Huron College School of Music.
While in Cincinnati, Ewald met Kathryn Elizabeth Reece (August 23, 1899-1990?). Reece was born in Piedmont, North Carolina, graduated high school in Decatur, Alabama (1916) before moving with her family to Tallahassee, Florida in 1919. She studied at the Florida State College for Women (FSCW) in Tallahassee from 1919-1921 where she was the pupil of Emma Boyd. There are two documented recitals Reece performed in at FSCW, a song recital in 1920 and her graduation recital in 1921. She was a member of Sigma Alpha Iota and received a special diploma in voice.
Following her graduation from FSCW, Reece moved to Cincinnati where she was awarded a scholarship to attend the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and study with Dr. John A. Hoffman from 1921-1924. She married Ewald B. Haun on September 15, 1924 at her family’s home in Tallahassee (529 College Ave.). In 1925 Reece traveled to New York City to study with Marcella Sembrich at Juilliard.
Reece’s Broadway debut was at the Plymouth Theatre in April 1926 as Phyllis in Gilbert & Sullivan’s opera Iolantha. Other works in which she appeared include Pirates of Penzance, H.M.S. Pinafore, and Enchanted Isle. In 1930 Reece appeared in the show Animal Crackers with the famous Marx Brothers.
After appearing on Broadway, Reece traveled to Australia around June of 1928 where she was cast as the lead in the work Princess Charming. Following this appearance Reece continued performing in England, Canada, and the United States.
In January of 1939 Ewald Haun passed away from heart disease. That same year Reece was appointed instructor at the Cincinnati Conservatory Drama Department. Reece received a Bachelor and Master’s degrees from CCM and joined the faculty at Western College in Oxford, Ohio. Reece moved back to Tallahassee in 1946 where she taught private voice lessons, organized social events, joined the real estate business, and helped in the founding of the Tallahassee Little Theatre.
No official date has been located for her death, but it may have been around 1988-90.
Known addresses in Tallahassee: 529 College Ave., 1600 E Park Ave., 1515 Valley Rd.
Only source is an unpublished text by Nancy Whitfield titled Princess Charming: the Life Story of Kathryn Reece Haun (1988).
For assistance, please contact our Special Collections staff.