Music Department and University Community Saddened by the Passing of a Dear Colleague
A Tribute to Dr. Pearl Yeadon
Written by Dr. Peter Collins
The death of Dr. Pearl Yeadon of a cerebral hemorrhage on January 30, 2007, left the Music Department shattered. Out of respect for Dr. Yeadon, many of the activities she coordinated were cancelled for the semester. The Music Department arranged many tribute concerts and activities to honor the late professor’s life and contributions to the Music Department of Missouri State University.
In the fall of 1993, Dr. Yeadon arrived at Southwest Missouri State University with a wealth of operatic experience having performed over thirty-five leading roles in opera houses across Europe. The university community soon learned that the role of opera diva was one small part of Dr. Yeadon’s persona. She was a scholar, an innovative educator and an artist in every respect. Soon she became a dynamo for the Music Department and drew the university and community together in ways that had not yet been imagined. She was creative, resourceful, adventurous, curious and always ready to think “outside the box.”
Almost immediately Dr. Yeadon conceived and established the Opera Collector’s Series, the School Outreach Program and Opera Viva. Through the Collector’s Series she was able to bring operatic artists of the highest caliber to the university community in intimate in-house performances, glittering opera galas and master classes offered for voice students. The Opera Viva program attracted national attention as Dr. Yeadon became known as a pioneer in the field of service-learning. The program introduced the students of rural Missouri schools to opera and also offered university students the opportunity to interact with the surrounding community. Opera Viva effectively opened the door to a world of music for thousands of children who may otherwise not have this experience. For university students, it embodied the university’s initiatives of public affairs and citizenship. Dr. Yeadon was also on the faculty of the first Missouri Fine Arts Academy and taught each year for the program.
Dr. Yeadon also had a love for chamber music and thrived on the challenges of performing works written for several musicians. She organized three Scandinavian tours for the Missouri Chamber Players and performed with the ensemble throughout Norway and Sweden. The most prestigious venues included the International Grieg Festival in Bergen, the Composer’s University of Sweden, and the Stockholm School for the Performing Arts.
A true Renaissance woman, Dr. Yeadon was artistically talented in many areas. Her compositions include a song cycle From Bed to Breakfast which was based on her own poetry. She enjoyed working in the visual medium, whether painting a mural for her grandson’s school or designing scenery and costumes for Opera Workshop productions. Photography was a particular passion of hers. Her photographs are published in two books by her daughter, Pamela Glasell: Vintage Souvenir Tablecloths and Linens, and Collector’s Guide to Vintage Tablecloths. Pearl Yeadon was also able to bring together her kaleidoscopic experiences as an opera singer in an extensive volume about the European operatic profession. This book on the European operatic voice-type system has been completed and will be published posthumously by Scarecrow Press.
The Music Department of Missouri State University is a much richer environment because of Dr. Yeadon’s fourteen years of teaching here. Her legacy will live on in her students and colleagues and will continue to serve as a source of inspiration for all.