SYBIL DOROTHEA HAST (May 8, 1924 – May 9, 2019)
Sybil Dorothea Heimann Hast passed away peacefully on May 9, 2019 at her home in
Middletown, Connecticut, a day after her ninety-fifth birthday. A passionate teacher
and raconteur, Sybil was most of all a lover of languages. During her lifetime, she
spoke and/or studied Mandarin, Russian, Spanish, Italian and Japanese and was
fluent in English, French and German. Her childhood spent on four continents gave
her a unique perspective on the world and allowed her to absorb languages in an
almost effortless way. She used her skills to teach, coach and translate in a variety
of settings during her long professional career in Los Angeles.
Sybil was born in Shanghai where she lived until the age of six. Her father, Paul
Heinrich Heimann, was the China Manager for the German railway company,
Orenstein & Koppel. In 1921, he brought his wife, Elisabeth Halle Heimann from
Berlin to Shanghai, where they had two children: Sybil and Anne. Paul Heimann
was transferred back to Berlin in 1930, right before the rise of Hitler. The family left
Berlin in 1934, spent one year in Santiago, Chile, and then moved to London. After
going through the worst part of the Blitz in 1940-41, the Heimanns decided to move
once again because of Elisabeth’s deteriorating health. Paul Heimann thought his
wife would get better care away from the war in Europe and arranged for a transfer
to the USA. The family sailed to New York in 1941 on an ocean liner protected by a
military convoy.
After receiving her Cambridge School Certificate from the Parsons Mead School
(Ashtead, Surrey), Sybil spent one year at Peabody High School in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania where she graduated with honors in 1942. She then attended the
Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University) for two years and went
on to graduate from Smith College in 1946. She was accepted into graduate school
in German Language and Literature at UCLA that same year. She withdrew from the
program in 1948 to marry David G. Hast in Pittsburgh. There she had two children
and was involved in volunteer work that included helping to start the Unitarian
Universalist Church in the North Hills, which held its first service in 1958. After her
divorce in 1959, she went back to school to receive her M.A. in French at the
University of Pittsburgh (1964) and her M.A. in German Language and Literature
from UCLA (1966). She also received a diploma from the University of Barcelona
(1972) where she studied Spanish and Spanish Literature.
Sybil began her professional career teaching German language courses in the UCLA
German Department from 1966 until 1970. She then became the language and
diction coach for the UCLA Opera Theater under the direction of Dr. Jan Popper in
the Department of Music. She realized her true love here—working with singers on
art songs in different languages (Italian, French, German and Spanish). Although not
a professional musician herself, she lived and breathed opera and developed
techniques for teaching diction and pronunciation to singers. She stayed actively
involved as a faculty member in the Music Department until her retirement in 1993.
Sybil was also a creative and industrious freelancer. In addition to other ventures,
she taught as an adjunct in German at Santa Monica College, did French and German
translations, and began a language consulting company that provided Spanish
language intensives for doctors and nurses at area hospitals, ESL classes for foreign
medical personnel, and translation services. She worked in the Oral History
Program at UCLA beginning in 1986 and interviewed many eminent musicians,
including Mehli Mehta, Roger Wagner, Dorothy Kirsten and Louis Kaufman. In 1986,
she also co-founded the Westside Opera Workshop with her friend and colleague,
vocal coach and accompanist Roger Malouf. During its years of operation, the
Westside Opera provided singers in the Santa Monica area with the opportunity to
study operatic roles and present them in concert performances of complete operas.
Her last professional endeavor, besides teaching and coaching, was as a Hollywood
voice-over artist, under the guidance of veteran actor and voice over coach Don
Pietromonaco (Johnny Rabbit).
After moving to Middletown, Connecticut in 2001 to be close to her daughter, Sybil
continued teaching German and public speaking on a part time basis. She was also
an avid knitter and a lover of all plants, but especially cacti and succulents.
Sybil is survived by her daughter, Dorothea Elizabeth Hast and her husband Stanley
Scott of Middletown, CT, her son, Thomas David Hast of Boulder, Colorado, two
grandchildren, Daniela Cusack and Marisa Hast and two great grandchildren,
Gabriela and Davy.
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