American singer, philanthropist, and patron of the arts.

Career Summary

Noël Sullivan, son of "Frank" J. Sullivan and Alice Phelan, showed some talent in music at school and developed his abilities as an amateur singer. The family home was 2323 Hyde Street, San Francisco, where Noël was later renowned for entertaining friends from the world of the arts. An heir to his wealthy uncle James D. Phelan, banker and politician, who died in 1930, he supported the arts in San Francisco. In 1939 he moved to Hollow Hills Farm in Carmel Valley, where he continued to entertain friends, and participated in the Carmel Bach Festival in Carmel-by-Sea.

Sullivan and Moriz Violin

In ?October 1949, Moriz Violin gave a "lecture concert" in Carmel, which featured Heinrich Schenker's arrangement of a harpsichord concerto by C. P. E. Bach (probably that in A minor). This took place at the Carmel Bach Festival, and it seems likely that Sullivan was involved. In ?January 1950, Violin received a letter from Sullivan ask him to inquire of Arnold Schoenberg whether the latter was willing to serve as a judge in a composition competition (named for James D. Phelan) for American-born composers between the ages of 20 and 40, for which Roger Sessions was to be another of the judges. Violin commented "Mr. Sullivan is a very useful man." (Schoenberg declined.)

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