At the urging of a friend, Silberg began to concentrate on voice study. Some of her 昀椀rst lessons were in Kansas City with Mrs. D. C. Smith, who had been an assistant to Madam Valeri of Rome. Silberg studied with Smith from 1928 to 1931. Silberg performed as a soprano symphony soloist for the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra in 1930, the MacDowell Club Orchestra located in Boston, Massachusetts in 1932, and the Missouri Symphony Orchestra in 1931 and again in 1934. Along the way she continued to take voice lessons with different teachers in the performing industry from New York, the Royal Academy in London, the Long School of Music in Massachusetts, and the Chicago Musical College. Silberg once stated, “I felt I could never learn enough. I was greedy for knowledge of music and how to use the voice properly.” Her many teachers included Agnes Williams, Rose Stuart, Inez Scott Lunsford Silberg strolls across the yard in front of a home she designed. Photograph Mary Garden, Madam Nellie Gardini, by J. Don Cook. September 9, 1979. Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society. Belle Cutter Forbes, Madam Emma Roe, and Mathilde Marchesi. Silberg earned her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Kansas City Conservatory where she studied under Harold Van Duzee. It was during her 昀椀nal year at the conservatory when she began teaching younger voice students, initially believing that teaching was not for her. That same year she suffered a great loss when her husband of only a few years tragically passed away. Dr. William F. Lunsford, originally of Poteau, Oklahoma, was in a car accident when returning to Kansas City after a trip to his hometown. The couple had one child, a son who would later be known as Lt. Col. William Lunsford. Silberg forfeited a performing career for an occupation that would allow her to be home as much as possible. When asked in an interview with Nancy Gibson for The Daily Oklahoman in 1979 if she had ever stopped to consider what kind of performing career she might have had, Silberg stated, “I have always been The piano was the focal point in the Silberg home. It was where Inez Scott Lunsford Silberg very realistic and I knew that singing success worked and it was the magnet for the 昀氀ow of former students dropping by to share their stories were very rare and often very short.” successes. Photograph by J. Don Cook. September 9, 1979. Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society. 35