Baritone John Bröcheler passed away on Sept. 30. He was 81.

Bröcheler was born in Vaals, Netherlands on Feb. 21, 1945. As a teenager he sang with the men’s choir Het Koninklijk Mannenkoor Cecilia 1837 and was a frequent soloist. Bröcheler studied voice at the Conservatorium Maastricht and later in Paris.

Early in Bröcheler’s career, he mainly performed recitals, and eventually, took part in premiering new works including the 1974 world premiere of Henri Pousseur’s “Die Erprobung des Petros Hebraicus” at the Berliner Festwochen festival and world premiere of Mauricio Kagel’s “Mare Nostrum,” gained him much recognition.

Bröcheler also received first prize at the 1969 Landelijk Concours van Nederlandse Vocalisten in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

He made his opera debut in 1970 with the Dutch National Opera, as Leonetto in Suppé’s “Boccaccio” and regularly performed with the company until 2002.

He also made appearances at the San Diego Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Oper Frankfurt, Staatsoper Stuttgart, La Scala in Milan, Vienna State Opera, and Theater Bonn. Notably, Bröcheler gave the world premiere of Menotti’s “La Loca” in San Diego and at the New York City Opera, alongside Beverly Sills in the title role. He also performed beside other opera greats such as Joan Sutherland, Grace Bumbry, and Beverly Sills.

Throughout his career, he received numerous prizes including the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik for his 1979 recording of Schumann’s “Dichterliebe” with pianist Tan Crone and was made a Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion in 2005.