History of the Josephine Baker Trust

Josephine Baker - or Jo Reader as she was usually called - lived near Farnham, Surrey, nearly all her long life. Daughter of a well-off entrepreneur, she had a comfortable inheritance, and used her wealth to support a myriad of good causes in the local area, health and of course classical music fields. She was proud to be known as a very hands-on working farmer and her herd of pedigree Jersey cows was renowned throughout the district.

Why did she found the Josephine Baker Trust? Here are her own words……..

"As long as I can remember, music - particularly singing - has been a very important and influential part of my life. My mother, Mary Baker was a professional mezzo-soprano singer during the 1930s. She had been a pupil of the legendary German Lieder singer, Elena Gerhardt, in Leipzig from 1930 until 1933. In that year, at the height of her career Elena Gerhardt and her husband left Nazi Germany and settled in London. I recall the frequent visits from the Gerhardt family to our house as Elena became my adopted 'Granny’. I was surrounded by the music of Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Hugo Wolf sung by both my mother and the world's most famous exponents of German Lieder. Who could have had a happier childhood?

It was in 2000 that the idea first arose of a Trust to assist young singers. The aim was to offer them worthwhile opportunities to gain practical performing experience and at the same time to offer a realistic fee for each engagement. I very much wanted to give something back to the music profession after a lifetime of pleasure derived from music and singing. The Trust seemed an exciting project and was duly formed. Today it supports some sixty young singers from all over the world who are studying in the London Conservatoires. Over the years it has been rewarding to see how many of these highly talented young professional musicians have begun to establish themselves in international careers, many through major opera companies like the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, English National Opera, Opera North, Scottish Opera, and in opera houses abroad - as well as on the concert platform with oratorio and Lieder. Others have returned to their own countries enriched by the experience and excellent teaching facilities and opportunities they have enjoyed here.

After Elena's death in 1963 my mother donated the Elena Gerhardt Lieder prize to the Royal Academy of Music; the first winner was Sheila Armstrong. The Trust is greatly indebted to the respective Heads of Vocal Studies for their administrative help and enthusiastic support."

Josephine Baker