Mildred Adair

Mildred Grace Adair (August 5, 1895 – April 30, 1943), later Mildred Grace Adair Stagg, was an American composer, pianist and teacher. Her compositions were mostly for piano solo, although she also wrote vocal and organ works. They were composed primarily as instructional material, while her church music was published for liturgical use.

Life and career

Mildred Grace Adair was born on August 5, 1895, in Clayton, Alabama, US. Her parents were John D. Adair (1869–1897) and Carrie Bennett Adair (1873–1926); Adair's father died two years after her birth. Her childhood was spent in Dothan, Alabama, where she attended local high school and later Judson College, a private women's school in Marion, Alabama.

Adair was a composer, pianist and teacher. From 1910 to 1934, she gave music lessons in Dothan, and later worked as the organist for the city's First Baptist Church. She also chaired Dothan's Harmony Club. Around 1934, Adair married Loring G. Stagg (born 1882), a real estate agent from West Virginia; the couple had three children: a son and two daughters. In 1935, the family moved to Orange County, Florida for one year and lived in Miami form 1938 until her death. Adair died on April 30, 1943, in Miami; she was buried in the Dothan City Cemetery.

Adair's compositions mainly include piano works, although she also wrote art songs and church music. Her piano works were primarily instructional compositions for students, while her sacred music was published for liturgical use. In 1932, an image of her was included in The Etude music magazine alongside a wide variety of other composers for their "Historical Musical Portrait Series". The Theodore Presser Company published both The Etude and numerous works by Adair.

List of compositions