Miss Bette Hankin was NEITHER a friend
NOR a Protege of Miss Rosa Ponselle !
She was a pupil of Elsa Baklor at thePeabody .
She sang a few supporting roles with the
Baltimore Civic Opera Company , for which she, as did other cast members , coach their respective roles with its then , Artistic Director ,
Rosa Ponselle . Ponselle resigned her
affiliation with the Opera Company in 1979 .
Miss Hankin , who over the years performed in various capacities for the Baltimore Opera Company , HAD a longtime and continuous friendship with Elayne Duke , the LAST LIVING of Ponselle's PERSONAL Friends from early childhood !
On occasion , Miss Hankin was a guest at Villa Pace , in regard to her affiliation with the Opera Company . She
had NOT been characterized by Miss Ponselle Nor ANYONE as a Lifetime or personal Baltimore friend to Ponselle .
When Ponselle died in 1981 , and the
Rosa Ponselle Museum was established , Miss Duke invited Miss Hankin , then a friend , to serve as a docent during the Museum tours which Miss Carole Lynn of the Peabody Conservatory established . She and others were trained by Miss Duke , as docents, who originated and presented The guided , audio/visual tours
through the Museum . On occasion Miss Hankin accompanied Miss Duke to her Audio/viuual presentments at the Juilliard School , Yale University and the University of Indianna in Bloomington .
Since the sale of ' Villa Pace " , Miss
Duke has had no further affiliation with Miss Hankin.
The Ponselle audio/visual Presentment , as developed by Miss Duke at " Villa Pace " , has been viewed under the auspices of the Rosa Ponselle Foundation in Opera Centers , Opera Houses and Musical organizations throughout the United States , Canada , England , Bulgaria, Russia , China and Japan . The presentment includes a filmed Documentary , DVD Still shots , her MGM
Carmen Screen test and CD selections from her more that 350 Commercial and Private releases .
I am personally offended that as a
Graduate and Post Graduate Degree recipient from Towson University , NOT
to have received a RESPECTFUL reply to the Rosa Ponselle Foundation's request to present the
" Life and Art " presentment on the Immortal Ponselle !
Instead you have invited " MY " protege to deliver a program which she
has had NO background in developing .
I am credited by the Authors James Drake and Mary Jane Phillips Matz as having shepherded them through the Ponselle Biographies ; as well as to
have provided All of the Archival Material
to Enrico Aloi for his THREE pictorial
Essays .
Further to ALL of this , I am the ORIGINATOR and Creator of the Caiazzo
Ponselle Competition from which I resigned last November upon the advice of my Professionally established Italian
Colleagues in Milan , Florence and Rome who cautioned me that its protagonists were DISHONORABLE !
I have NOTHING more to say , except
Towson University's Music Department ,
its Dean AND its Chairman are a great
disappointment to the Legacy of the Great Ponselle , and to me ,personally !

Elayne Reynolds Duke
President
The Rosa Ponselle Foundation

President, The Rosa Ponselle Foundation

wwwRosaPonselle.com
www ReynoldsDuke.com