(Image Source: Thierry.dran.free.fr)

Thierry Dran has passed away at the age of 67. 

The tenor began his musical studies at the Bordeaux Academy of Music in 1977 before heading to the Paris opera school, where he spent four years in Michel Sénéchal’s class. In his last year of studies he took on the role of Ernesto in “Don Pasquale” and as well as Paris in “La Belle Héléne” at the Nantes Opera.

From there, he headed to Canada, where he is invited by Louis and Gino Quilico to sing in various concerts.

He would go on to perform at the Berlioz Festival in Lyon, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Opéra National de Paris, Opéra de Liège, the Amsterdam Opera, and the Glyndebourne Festival, among many others. Among his notable roles were Piquilo in “La Périchole,” Nadir in “Les Pêcheur de Perles,” Ottavio in “Don Giovanni,” Count Almaviva in “Il Barbiere di Siviglia,” Ramiro in “La Cenerentola,” and Bénédict in Berlioz’s “Beatrice et Bénédict.” 

In 2006, he made a shift in his repertory, putting on a series of concerts dedicated to such composers as Verdi, Puccini, Giordano, and Cilea.

His lone recording was of Messager’s “Fortunio” alongside John Eliot Gardiner. He wrote an autobiography entitled “Le chant m’a sauvé.”