Grace Audrey Laura St John-Mildmay (19 December 1900 – 31 May 1953) was an English and Canadian soprano and co-founder, with her husband, John Christie, of Glyndebourne Festival Opera.
[1] Mildmay first appeared publicly in a children's operetta production sponsored by the Vancouver Woman's Musical Club at the age of 18.
[1][2] Mildmay's teacher Johnstone Douglas suggested to John Christie that she sing the part of Blonde in an amateur production of Act I of Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail in December 1930.
[1][3] The 48-year-old bachelor Christie was immediately smitten by the much younger Mildmay's charm and vivacity, and during a tour of the house, he impulsively showed her the room that he said they would share after their marriage.
[1][3] Critics claimed that Christie was merely seeking to provide a showcase for his wife, but while she was to sing often at the new theatre, she remained a member of the ensemble.
[4] Mildmay had a history of tonsillitis, and after a tonsillectomy began studying with the Hungarian singing teacher Jani Strasser in Vienna.
Based on his letters of the time, Christie was more interested in his building project than his child, for example writing to his wife "I saw Baby tonight, it smiled at me".
[5][6] The inaugural Glyndebourne Festival opened on 28 May 1934 with Mildmay, who was two months pregnant with her second child, singing Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro.
[2] Mildmay contributed to this through "her tireless work during the opera seasons, seamlessly combining the roles of principal singer, hostess, chatelaine, mother, wife and friend".
[1] Mildmay continued her own singing career in Europe during the 1930s, including a successful concert tour of Germany, Hungary and Austria in 1936, and opera performances in Belgium.
[9] She made her final operatic appearance in May 1943 in Montreal, singing the role of Susanna under the direction of Sir Thomas Beecham.