On Dec. 30, 2024, American soprano Loretta Di Franco has died at the age of 82. Born in New York, Di Franco began her career as a Met’s opera chorus member and eventually got promoted to singing small comprimario roles. In 1961, she sang her first comprimario role as one of the pages in Wagner’s “Tannhäuser” and the peasant girl {…}
Mezzo-soprano Maria Jonas has died. Ars Choralis Coeln announced the news via social media stating, “With dismay, great dismay and deep sorrow we announce the sudden and unexpected death of our ensemble director, friend and mentor Maria Jonas. She was the center and heart of Ars Choralis Coeln and we can’t quite comprehend it at the moment. We tried to {…}
Mezzo-soprano Elsbeth Gerritsen ahas died at the age of 53. Gerritsen studied musicology at Utrecht University and later made her doctoral studies at the Amsterdam Conservatory of Music. There she studied with Margreet Honig. She went on to perform with the Nederlandse Bachvereniging and became an alto in Quink, a vocal quartet of international renown. She also performed as a soloist {…}
O Dec. 18, 2024, German mezzo and soprano Sigrid Kehl died at the age of 95. Born in Berlin on Nov 23, 1929, Kehl first studied piano, voice, and pedagogy at the Conservatory of Thuringia in Erfurt from 1948 to 1951. She also studied voice and piano at the Berlin University of the Arts until 1956. She went on to {…}
On April 11, 2024, soprano Jeannette Sinclair died at the age of 96. Born on April 11, 1928, Sinclair was born in Camberwell, England, and went on to attend Mary Datchelor Girls’ School. She later studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama followed by opera with Joan Cross and with Helene Isepp. The soprano made her debut in {…}
Korean tenor Sehoon Moon has died at the age of 40. The Tenor began studying opera at Dankook University in Seoul and joined the Accademia Teatro alla Scala in Milan. He went on to win awards at numerous prizes including the Audience Award and Third Prize at the Tenor Viñas International Singing Contest. In 2017, he made his debut at {…}
Lighting designer Rainer Casper has died at 60. Born in 1964, Casper initially worked at the Cologne Theater before working as head of lighting at the Leipzig Theater, the Hannover Theater, and the Volksbühne at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Berlin, where his collaboration with Frank Castorf began. With Castroff he notably designed the lighting for the “The Ring of the Nibelung” at {…}
The Canadian Opera Company has announced that on Nov. 8, 2024, Philip Boswell died at the age of 75. The company took to social media and said, “With heavy hearts, we share the sad news of the passing of Philip Boswell, a cherished member of the Canadian Opera Company family. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends {…}
Rossini Opera Festival Gianfranco Mariotti has died at the age of 91. The festival took to social media to announce the news stating, “Gianfranco has left us. There is no saying how lonely we feel right now: there will be time for words and actions to honor and tribute to our founder… Now we just want to hold ourselves in {…}
(Credit: A. Bofill) On . Nov. 18, 2024, Spanish Soprano Enriqueta Tarrés died at the age of 90. Born on March 17, 1934, in Barcelona, Tarrés began her music studies in 1946 at the Conservatorio Municipal de Barcelona and won the Grand Prix International de Canto de Tolosa in 1955. She went on to make her operatic debut as Leonora {…}
American music producer Jay David Saks has died at the age of 79. Born in 1945 in New York City, Saks studied at the Juilliard School and later graduated from Mannes College of Music in 1970. In 1972, he joined Columbia Masterworks and later left in 1974 when he joined RCA Records. Saks went on to win 13 Grammy Awards {…}