Born, June 22, 1900, Vitebsk, Russia. Died November 23, 1973, New York. Mezzo-soprano. At Opéra Comique for ten years. During WWII, Tourel espcaped through Portugal, then Cuba and finally NY. After an audition with toscanini, she appeared with New York Philharmonic and other major orchestras. Debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in May, 1937 and first appeared in Israel in 1949. Taught at Julliard in New York and in Jerusalem at the Rubin Academy. She was a great friend of Leonard Bernstein, who wrote Jeremiah Symphony to fit her coloratura mezzo-soprano voice. A picture from the Perry Collection at the University of Buffalo shows a picture of Tourel at the Russian Tea Room in NY.