Helen Jepson

Helen Jepson
Born	Helen Jepson November 28, 1904 Titusville, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	September 16, 1997 (aged 92) Bradenton, Florida, U.S.
Occupation	Opera singer
Spouse(s)	George Poselle (19?? - 19??) Walter Dellera (19?? - 19??)

Helen Jepson (November 28, 1904 – September 16, 1997) was an American lyric soprano noted for being a "stunning blond beauty" as well as for her voice.

She was born in Titusville, Pennsylvania on November 28, 1904, (Two sources give her birthday as November 28, 1906.) and raised in Akron, Ohio, where she studied voice and performed in high school operatic productions. Her father operated a confectionery store in Akron. Her mother died when Helen was 13, an event that left her to care for her father and her sister, who was 3 at the time.

She attended the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia on scholarship. She sang with the Philadelphia Civic Opera Company and formed a four singer group called "The Mississippi Misses", traveling "6,000 miles in 12 weeks giving concerts in 87 towns".

Her professional success accelerated in Philadelphia leading to a move to New York City with her husband, flautist George Poselle. (Two sources spell his last name Possell, rather than Poselle.) Her career in radio began in 1933 with a performance with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Philip James. The broadcast was only local to New Jersey. She would later perform on the radio with bandleaders Paul Whiteman and Rudy Vallee also. She was selected as Most Important New Air Personality of 1934".

Her radio broadcasts attracted the attention of the Metropolitan Opera and her debut there was in John Laurence Seymour's one-act opera In the Pasha's Garden. Her husband also found employment with the Met. She sang leading soprano roles with at Metropolitan Opera from 1935 to 1941. Some of her best known roles while at the Met include Desdemona (Otello) and Marguerite (). The Faust recording is still in print, as is her recording of Porgy and Bess; she was the first soprano to record in that role, and the extant recording of her was supervised by Gershwin himself.

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