Aniceta Macdonald

Newport, RI - Aniceta Shea MacDonald, 95, a reknown soprano soloist, formerly of South Bostson, MA and Farewell St., Newport, RI, died Tuesday, March 30, 2004 at St. Clare Home, Newport, RI. She was the wife of the late Roland L. MacDonald. Born in Newport, RI on May 15, 1908, she was the daughter of the late Dr. Matthew Shea and Mary C. Kirwin Shea.Mrs. MacDonald was a graduate of St. Marys Academy, Newport, RI, St. Josephs High School, Newport, RI and St. Elizabeth College, Convent Station, NJ. She received her diploma in 1931 and her soloist diploma in 1933 from the New England Conservatory of Music. She was invited to sing at the Vatican for Pope Pius XII. Mrs. MacDonald received the prestigious Naumberg Award in 1936. From 1938 to 1939 she was in Berlin, broadcasting on shortwave radio. In 1953 she toured with the St. Cecilia Soceity throughout France, England, Ireland and Germany. She also had the distinction of being the first Soprano to be a holder of the Beebe Scholarship for foreign study. After her studies in Europe with Frau Busch Gadski, daughter of the Golden Era Soprano Johanna Gadski, she returned to America and made a coast to coast tour singing with all major symphony orchestras including the Boston Pops under the direction of Arthur Fiedler.Mrs. MacDonald was a soloist at practically all Newport Churches and sang at the dedication of the organ at St. Mary?s Church, Newport in September of 1958, accompanied by the reknown organist Berj Zamkochian, who passed away in February 2004.She leaves no immediate family. She is survived by her dear friends and caregivers Capt. And Mrs. Roger Muriel Buck of Newport, and many local friends who enjoyed and appreciated her company and her remarkable talent. She was the sister of the late Margaret Shea and the twin of the late Arthur E. ?Doc? Shea.A Mass of Christian burial will be held on Saturday, April 3, 2004, at 10:00AM, in St. Josephs Church, Broadway And Mann Avenue, Newport. Burial will be in St. Columba Cemetery in Middletown. Donations in her memory may be made to the Rose Hawthorne Sisters, Rosary Hill Home, 600 Linda Avenue, Hawthorne, NY 10532.