Mildred Dilling
Mildred Dilling (February 23, 1894 – December 30, 1982) was an American harpist. She studied under Henriette Renié in Paris. She first started performing in 1911, and traveled over 30,000 miles (48,000 km) per year at her busiest. She performed with many notable vocalists, had her own weekly NBC radio show, and appeared on the Bing Crosby radio show. She toured Europe and Asia multiple times, and often performed internationally. She enthusiastically championed the harp and gave many celebrities their first harp lesson, including Harpo Marx. In 1962 she helped found the American Harp Society. She devised a lever system for a non-pedal harp that made it more portable than a pedal harp but which allowed flexibility in harp tuning. Her extensive harp collection is held partially by Indiana University, and harp students still use two of her harp music compilations. |
Birth and Death Data: Born Marion (city in and the county seat of Grant County, Indiana, United States), Died December 30, 1982 (New York City (most populous city in the United States) )
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1915
Roles Represented in DAHR: harp
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia | 46184 | 10-in. | 11/8/1915 | Pattuglia Spagnuola | Mildred Dilling | Harp solo | instrumentalist, harp |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Dilling, Mildred," accessed December 25, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/109376.
Dilling, Mildred. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 25, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/109376.
"Dilling, Mildred." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 25 December 2025.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Dilling, Mildred - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no92019830
Wikidata: Mildred Dilling - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q47460112
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/87512326
Fast: https://id.worldcat.org/fast/308561 - https://id.worldcat.org/fast/308561
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