Australian soprano Margaret Josephine Nisbett has died at the age of 94. Born in Preston, Victoria, as a child she performed small concerts at home with her sister and at her local Church of England. She went on to study piano and singing with Thelma Ford when she was nine years old. Her first five years of training saw her {…}
Conductor Raymond Dobbs Franks has died at the age of 90. Born in 1933, he went on to study at the Juilliard School of Music and went on to work with the New Zealand Opera Company in the 1960s. That led him to work with numerous Australian companies such as the Australian Opera Studio, West Australian Ballet, Chamber Made Opera, {…}
The Camerata of Fine Arts has announced the passing of original member Ingeborg von Huene, who died of natural causes at 93. “With Ingeborg von Huene’s passing, a beautiful chapter in the history of the early music revival comes to a close,” says Joel Cohen, fellow Camerate member who has known von Huene since 1963. “Inge so loved and encouraged {…}
The information for this article was provided by Martin’s family. Famed Verdi scholar and historian George W. Martin passed away on June 8, 2023. He was 97. Martin famously wrote 12 books on opera, Giuseppe Verdi, and other historical subjects. Martin was born in New York in 1926 to George Whitney Martin Sr., a lawyer, and Agnes Wharton Hutchinson Martin. {…}
The Universidad del Valle has announced the death of Maestro Alberto Guzmán Naranjo. Guzmán Naranjo was a conductor and composer who wrote music for chamber ensembles, soloists, and symphonic orchestras. Among his most recognized works are “The Water Mass” (based on Colombian Pacific rhythms), “River of the Dead” (about the Colombian civil war), and the operas “Isaacs” (about poet Jorge Isaacs) {…}
(Credit: Rudi van den Bulck/Charles Mintzer collection) On June 17, Belgian Baritone Gilbert Dubuc died at the age of 98. Born on Jan. 21, 1925 in Couvin, Belgium, he began his musical studies at age 17, studying with Armand Crabbé at Brussels. He would later go on to perform at La Monnaie, Ghent, and Antwerp among other recognized operas. Among the {…}
(Credit: Mubi) Tenor Kenneth Riegel has died at the age of 85. Born on April 19, 1938 in Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania, Riegel made his theatrical debut as the Alchemist in “König Hirsch” at Santa Fe Opera in 1965. That same year he went on to sing at the Royal Opera House for the first time and in 1969 he made his {…}
(Photo Credit: Kirchbach) Famed German soprano Gabriele Schnaut passed away on June 19, 2023. She was 72. Born in Mannheim on Feb. 24, 1951, Schnaut commenced her musical journey as a violinist and singer. She studied at the Peter Cornelius Conservatory in Mainz, majoring in violin, while also studying musicology. However, in 1971, she studied singing at the Frankfurt University {…}
(Photo Copyright: Priska Ketterer Luzern) Known as a luminary and artistic visionary in the acoustically-focused style of “spectralism,” a creative approach towards synthesizing technological processing and the human voice, along with her profound interest in culture, philosophy, and literature, Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho (1952-2023) is a musical icon. Pushing the limits of what music could do and achieve as an {…}
On June 2, 2023, Kaija Saariaho passed away at the age of 70 The composer’s family released a statement in which they noted that Saariaho passed away in the morning in Paris. The statement also said that Saariaho was diagnosed with Glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer in February 2021 that was seen as incurable and lethal. They added that the {…}
(Credit: Royal Opera House) Soprano and Mezzo-soprano Kathryn Harries has died at the age of 72. The English singer was born at Hampton Court on Feb. 15, 1951 and went on to study with Constance Shacklock at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She made her concert debut at London’s Royal Festival Hall in 1977 and her operatic debut {…}