from her husband, but she kept his last name for professional purposes. In 1916, she left the Jubilee Singers and started making solo performances. Simultaneously, she moved to Chicago, Illinois to attend the Chicago Musical College. From early on, she started appearing in student programs, becoming the first black student to appear in the school's programs. In June 1916, she graduated, having completed her music education in one year instead of the typical four. At the graduation ceremony, she received the highest honor, the Diamond Medal, for outstanding achievement in vocal studies and for the highest average in her graduating class. That same year, she was featured on the cover of Half Century Magazine, which began publication in August 1916 in Chicago, in recognition of her work. Debut and early days After graduation, she started appearing in concerts in Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles. In 1916, she was a soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Within that same year on April 16, she made her New York recital debut at Aeolian Hall. Then from 1918 to 1925, she toured across the U.S., receiving critical acclaim in local newspapers and contemporary publications such as The Chicago Defender and the Competitor. In fact, the Competitor called her "An Idol of the Concert Stage." While touring, she continued training under Oscar Saenger and shared recital programs with renowned artists such Daisey Tapley, a contralto from New York who also sponsored Cole Talbert's New York debut and represented the soprano for a while. One noteworthy collaboration was when she performed Handel's Messiah with the Howard University Choral Society under the direction of Lulu Vere Childers in 1919. Reviewing her performance, a critic from The Washington Times wrote that Talbert's "voice was pure and high and held appealing expression that was exquisite at times, then full of the sunlight of spring, or again told this gripping tale with pathos and sympathy." Repertoire and recordings Talbert made recordings very early in her career, starting in 1919. In fact she was one of the first few black classical artists to be recorded, unlike many of her peers whose work was not recorded due to record companies' hesitance to record black classical artists. Her repertoire was extensive and versatile—covering styles from opera arias, songs of contemporary composers like William Grant Still, to spirituals arranged by composers such as Hall Johnson. She recorded with the following labels and recording