For the second annual Mt. Rubidoux Easter Sunrise Service, a soloist was added to the program. Harry Girard, the composer of the music for the Passion Play, and his wife sang solos, which became a regular feature of the Easter Sunrise Services. One regular soloist was Riverside opera diva Marcella Craft.
Marcella Craft, Riverside’s opera star, came home for the 1915 service. Sarah Marcia Craft was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on August 11, 1874. She and her parents moved to Riverside in 1893. She demonstrated musical talent from her early years, and soon after arriving in Riverside, she sang at several events. Two years after graduating from Riverside High School, she traveled first to the East Coast and later to Europe to study opera. Several Riverside businessmen, including Frank Miller, helped support her financially. While studying and performing in Europe, she changed her stage name to Marcella. She became a celebrated opera singer at the Munich Opera. When Craft and her mother returned for a visit in 1909, they stayed at the Mission Inn. Then, when they returned to Riverside in 1914 because of the impending war, they again took up residence at the Mission Inn.
In 1915, Marcella first appeared as a soloist for the annual Easter Sunrise Service. Miss Craft was thrilled to be back home in Riverside for this event. She told the Daily Press, “How good it is to be here among friends whom I know to be friends. How good it is to be with my own people; people I have known all my life. It is a pleasure I have always looked forward to, and I can only say that I am happy to have the opportunity to sing on Easter morning for Riverside.”…