THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY

Mozart Wilson

Mozart Wilson (m.d., 1889-92)

[Born 31 Jan 1851, died London 18 Sep 1919]

In the early 1870s, Mozart Wilson (christened John) toured as solo pianist and accompanist with Arthur Lloyd and his Concert Party. In a subsequent engagement with Dixon and Walsham's Opera Company he gained his first experience as a conductor.

Wilson later served as musical director on tour with D'Oyly Carte Opera Company "B" from January 1889 to June 1892.

In 1901 he formed a concert party consisting primarily of his own family and known as "The Mozart Wilson Family." His sisters Annie and Alice were known as the "Sestini" sisters in honor of their (and Mozart's) great-grandmother, Italian soprano Giovanna Sestini, who came to London in 1774 and was prima buffa in comic opera at King's Theatre, Haymarket. The troupe toured the British Isles until 1912 when Mozart Wilson retired.

Wilson's output as a composer included one song, "The Ethel Valse," dedicated to D'Oyly Carte soprano (later contralto) Ethel McAlpine.

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