Thursby was born on February 21, 1845 in Brooklyn, N. Y. She was the daughter of John Barnes Thursby, a rope manufacturer of New York City, and his wife, Jane Ann (Bennett) Thursby. John Barnes Thursby was the grandson of the John Thursby who came to New York in 1796 and founded the first rope manufactory in America.
Emma Thursby entered the Moravian Seminary at Bethlehem, Pa. , with the class of 1857. In 1859 her father died, and it became necessary for her to help toward the support of the family. She accordingly began vocal study under Julius Meyer, a pupil of Mendelssohn, and later with Achille Errani. She rapidly developed a soprano voice of remarkable range--from middle C to F above the staff.
From 1865 to 1868 she was engaged as soprano soloist at Plymouth Church in Brooklyn. In 1873 she went abroad for instruction with Lamperti, in Milan, and with San Giovanni, and returned to America to study for a time with Madame Rudersdorff before making her début as a concert singer in 1875 at the Bedford Avenue Church in Brooklyn. For this concert she engaged the services of Patrick S. Gilmore and his band. Gilmore was so impressed with Thursby's singing that he engaged her for his summer concerts in New York and for a tour through the United States.
Engagements at the Church of the Divine Paternity and at the Broadway Tabernacle in New York followed. At the Tabernacle she came to the attention of Maurice Strakosch, concert manager and brother-in-law of Adelina Patti. He persuaded her to appear in concerts and oratorios under his management and she remained under his direction for seven years. She appeared in concert with the London Philharmonic on May 22, 1878, and for almost a year sang at the Crystal Palace, the Popular Concerts, and with Leslie's Choir.
From London she went to Paris, where her début created a sensation, and then toured the French provinces. In France she received the most flattering offer of her career, a proposal that she appear at the Paris Opéra on her own terms. Thursby, like Jenny Lind, was prejudiced against the opera and the theatre, and it is said that she had promised her friends at Plymouth Church never to be an opera singer. According to a family tradition these same friends were disappointed that she had not accepted the offer when she returned to America expecting approval.
In 1879 she was in America again, appearing with the Norwegian violinist, Ole Bull, on his last American tour. In 1880-81 she toured the Continent, returning to America at the end of 1882. In 1883 she toured the United States and Canada, and during her last full season was the principal soloist for Theodore Thomas and his orchestra. Thereafter Thursby appeared in concert at less frequent intervals.
She began a scientific investigation of methods of voice training and in 1898 commenced her active career as a vocal teacher. She was the first teacher of Geraldine Farrar and acted as sponsor and adviser to the younger singer throughout Farrar's entire career. Thursby made a tour of China and Japan in 1903 and then definitely retired as a concert artist. Her voice, like Jenny Lind's, has become something of a tradition.
Until the year of her death in New York City, her apartment in Gramercy Park was a salon for the gathering of the most brilliant figures in the musical world.
Emma Cecilia Thursby was an American singer popular in Europe and the United States. She was one of the first American singers to win an international reputation after having won first laurels at home and she was considered one of the greatest Mozart interpreters of her time. Thursby was the first American awarded the medal of the Société des Concerts of the Paris Conservatory in 1881.
