Mezzo-soprano Daphne Evangelatos passed away at the age of 78 on Nov. 18, 2021. Evangelatos was born in Athens into a family of artists. She was the daughter of composer Antiochos Evangelatos and harpist Xeni Bourexaki-Evangelatos as well as the sister of director and academic Spyros Evangelatos. She studied music at the Hellenic Conservatory in Athens and continued her musical {…}
On Oct. 27, 2021, former conductor Heinz Panzer died in Dortmund at the age of 94. The news was communicated by his family members. Panzer was born on August 31, 1927 in Westick / Kaiserau and received music lessons early on in his childhood. He played the piano, accordion, and later horn and in 1942 he began studying music at {…}
On Oct. 22, 2021 Udo Zimmermann, a German composer, musicologist, opera director, and conductor died at the age of 78. According to reports Zimmermann died of a long illness. Born on Oct. 6, 1943, in Dresden Germany, Zimmermann became a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor from 1954 to 1962. During that time he was directed by Rudolf Mauersberger and Zimmermann {…}
(Credit: Monika Werneke) Polish soprano Aga Mikolaj has died at the age of 51 due to COVID-19 infection complications. Born in Kutno, Mikolaj studied at the Academy of Music in Poznań with Antonina Kawecka from 1990 to 1996 and received a scholarship from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. In 1997, the soprano took master classes with Renata {…}
Bass-baritone Jake Gardner has died at the age of 73. Throughout his career, Gardner was sought-after at major theaters and held a position as principal baritone with Oper der Stadt Köln for a decade. From there, he went on to perform internationally with the Wiener Volksoper, Semperoper Dresden, Glyndebourne Festival, De Nederlandse Opera, and Edinburgh Festival. In the United States, {…}
English soprano Joan Carlyle, born April 6, 1931 at Upton in Wirral, Cheshire, UK, has died at age 90, the Royal Opera House has announced. She had become one of the leading British and English-speaking singers, having emerged at Covent Garden in the 1950s. Carlyle worked under the baton of many important conductors such as Rafael Kubelik, George Solti, Otto {…}
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra has announced the death of former Principal Horn, Howard T. Howard. Howard died on Oct. 30, 2021 after a long battle with cancer. The horn player began his music studies at the age of five playing piano and began playing French horn at the age of 14. He went on to receive a bachelor’s in music {…}
Coloratura soprano Dorit Hanak has died at the age of 82. The soprano, who was born on Nov. 15, 1938 in Baden bei Wien, trained at the Academy of Music in Vienna and won the International Voice Competition in Liège. She made her debut in Gelsenkirchen and became a member of the Oper Graz ensemble in 1958 where she would remain for {…}
On Oct. 9, 2021, French tenor Gilbert Py died at the age of 87. Born on Dec. 9, 1933 in Sète in the department of Hérault, Py spent his youth in a caravan on the fairgrounds with his family. He lived with his family in Montpellier for a short period and at the age of five, he took his first {…}
On Oct. 10, Australian baritone Malcolm Douglas Donnelly died at the age of 78. Born in Sydney on Feb. 8, 1943, Donnelly studied voice with Marianne Mathy at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and with Vida Harford in London. He began his career with the Elizabethan Trust Opera and made his debut with the Australian Opera in 1966, working with {…}
On Oct. 13, 2021, Coloratura Bela Andreevna Rudenko died at the age of 88. Born on August 18, 1933, in Anthracite, Ukraine, the soprano studied at the Odessa Conservatoire and graduated in 1956. In 1955, she made her debut at the Odessa Opera and ballet theatre and became a soloist for the Kiev Opera in 1956. From there, she began {…}