Alice Miriam Pinch (October 17, 1887 – July 22, 1922) was an American born soprano who sang two seasons with the Metropolitan Opera Company of New York. Her career was cut short by her untimely death due to complications from appendicitis. Prior to her engagement with the Metropolitan Opera, she accompanied Enrico Caruso on what proved to be his last tour of North America. Ms. Pinch went by the stage name Alice Miriam. Early life Alice Miriam Pinch was born in Newton, Kansas on October 17, 1887. Her father, Rev. Pearse Pinch, was a Wesleyan Methodist Minister. Her mother, Mary Pinch, née McCasey, was born in New York City. Alice was the fifth of seven children. Her father immigrated from England at an early age. The family moved frequently during her childhood, remaining in the country's heartland until finally settling in Glendale, Maryland outside of Washington, D.C.. The young Pinch sang regularly in her church choir, singing solos by the age of eight. By age twelve she was earning extra money for her family by singing at funerals and other community and private events. While living outside of the city of Chicago, she and her sister were engaged to perform at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. Pinch's performance caught the attention of a woman in the audience who provided her with a letter of introduction to the Chicago socialite Emily Hutchinson Crane, the widow of the industrialist Richard T. Crane. Thus Pinch became Crane's protégé, and it was arranged to send her to Europe for voice training. Crane covered all of Pinch's expenses for the next five years. The European Years Pinch arrived in Paris in 1911 where she began her training for the opera, studying with Jean de Reszke. She remained in Paris until 1914. While In Paris, she met the young German sculptor Arnold Rönnebeck, who was also there to study, and at the same time, establish himself within its modernist milieu. Rönnebeck's regular invitation to Gertrude Stein’s Saturday dinner parties are a testament to his success in this regard. The couple's social circle included Rönnebeck’s cousin, Karl von Freyburg, and the American painters Marsden Hartley and Charles Demuth. Pinch and Rönnebeck became engaged to marry during this period. The onset of war meant Rönnebeck's return to Germany to enter military service. It was at this time that Pinch sought a new voice teacher, and relocated to Milan, Italy