Birthplace of Mack Harrell

Mack Harrell grew up in Greenville after his birth in Celeste, and studied violin for twelve years before the Curtis Institute discovered his baritone. He won the Metropolitan Opera auditions in 1938 and debuted there as Biterolf in December 1939. In 1953 he sang Nick Shadow in the American premiere of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, which the composer conducted. In 1951 he recorded Berg's Wozzeck live with Dmitri Mitropoulos and the New York Philharmonic. His son Lynn became a cellist and was principal cellist of the Cleveland Orchestra from 1964 to 1971.

What the plaque says

Birthplace of Mack Harrell Born here on October 8, 1909, Mack Harrell received early training as a violinist. He later studied the instrument at Oklahoma City University, where he changed direction to pursue his baritone singing talent. After attending the Juilliard School of Music, he began a professional opera career and performed with the Metropolitan Opera. In 1945 he joined the voice faculty at Juilliard, and was later administrator of the Aspen Music Festival and voice professor at Southern Methodist University. A world renowned artist, Harrell died in Dallas on January 29, 1960. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Audie Murphy / American Cotton Museum — 13 mi
  A Greenville museum of Hunt County's military heroes, including Audie Murphy, and of cotton, which keeps the engine of what it says was the world's largest inland cotton compress.
• Sam Rayburn House State Historic Site — 19 mi
  The two-story farmhouse west of Bonham that the longtime Speaker of the House built in 1916 and kept as his home, left as he lived in it and open as a museum since 1975.
• Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary — 26 mi
  A 289-acre sanctuary in McKinney that Bessie Heard founded at the age of 80, with five habitats, a 50-acre wetland and 6.5 miles of trails.

More markers nearby

• First Baptist Church of Celeste — 0.3 mi
• Audie Murphy — 0.6 mi
• Headwaters of the Sabine River — 2.0 mi
• Kingston Baptist Church — 3.4 mi