HALLET, Beatrice

Beatrice Hallet was the second oldest of four children of Emma Sarah and John Ford Hallet. She was one of the first students at the Royal College of Music in Kensington, London, founded in 1882. In 1883, she received one of 50 scholarships that exempted her from tuition fees. Beatrice Hallet was enrolled there until 1887 and participated in many of the institution's public concerts during this time. Music critic John South Shedlock attests to the pianist's "fair fingers" after such a concert in June 1886 (Academy 1886, p. 48), and a correspondent for the "Musical Times" describes her as "a very promising young pianist" (MusT 1886, p. 720).

At the end of 1887 or the beginning of 1888, Beatrice Hallet traveled to Germany and initially studied piano for one semester in Frankfurt with Eugenie Schumann. For the 1888/89 academic year, she was accepted into Clara Schumann's piano class and Iwan Knorr's composition class. After four semesters, the pianist completed her studies and presumably returned to England in 1890.
During and after her studies in Frankfurt, Beatrice Hallett composed several songs. In 1892, a collection of five songs for solo voice and piano accompaniment, as well as individual songs, were published in Leipzig and London.