gain took up the
leadership in the Unitarian church choir, then being held in Stiles
hall and until the new church was built she sang but after the service
of dedication of the church she resigned, the singing being of a
congregational form and led by a baritone voice. At clubs and parlor
receptions, Mrs. Pierce is still a favorite ballad singer and is
always greeted with appreciation and pleasure, for her voice though
not so powerful as in its prime, still exemplifies the value of her
early training and fine method of pure Bel Canto. Like the authoress
of this book, she proves a perfect method in youth preserves the
beauty of the voice even unto and beyond the three score and ten. Mrs.
Pierce and Mrs. Marriner-Campbell were the singers at the famous
Chamber concerts given by Messrs. Schmidt and Weil and who were
considered by a patronizing public the exponents of the best music
ever given in California, and at the concerts given by Mr. Henry
Heyman and those of Mr. Jacob Rosewald. Mr. Joseph Maguire's last
appearance in public was when he and Mrs. Pierce sang at a concert
under the direction of Mr. Stephen Leach. They sang the fine old
English duet, When Thy Bosom Heaves the Sigh to tumultuous applause
and were recalled again and again. Before Mrs. Campbell's departure
for Europe, at a farewell concert (held in the Howard Presbyterian
Church, Mission street, before 1800 persons), Mr. Walter Campbell and
Mrs. Pierce gave a most spirited rendering of the difficult old
Italian duet for basso and soprano of Master and Scholar with
tremendous effect. At the music jubilee held in old Mechanics'
pavilion in 1878, Mrs. Pierce was seated in the third row of sopranos
and very willingly took her place, when after the first chorus, Mr.
Zerrahn, the leader, leaned forward and said, "Please, that lady, come
out here," and placed her at his side, so telling and pure was the
carrying quality of her voice that he at once singled her out for the
cherished "front row."

Always associated with the highest efforts in music, Mrs. Pierce is
one of the founders of the successful Musical Association of Berkeley
and also of the New Oratorio Society of Berkeley which has in its
membership many of the most prominent musicians in the University
town, the musical center of California.

A very high compliment was paid Mrs. Pierce on her departure for the
East in 1876 when the Handel and Haydn society of San Francisco, under
the distinguished lead