Robert Cowart, the head of linguistic studies at the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann program has passed away. Born in Philadelphia, Robert Cowart studied at the University of Pennsylvania and Queens College. In 1981 he became a vocal coach at the Metropolitan Opera and later became the head of linguistic studies in the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. In 1992, he {…}
English director Graham Vick has died at the age of 67. The director died of complications arising from COVID-19. Born on Dec. 30, 1953, in Birkenhead, England, Vick studied at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and went on to make his directing debut at the age of 24. He directed a production of Gustav Holst’s “Savitri” for the {…}
Donald Pippin, founder of Pocket Opera, passed away on July 7, 2021 in San Francisco. He was 95. He was born on Dec. 8, 1925 in Zebulon, North Carolina, and spent his early youth in Richmond, Virginia. He became a pianist and by 14, he was soloing with the National Symphony Orchestra. At 17, he went to Harvard on a {…}
(Credit: Marco Borggreve) Dutch composer Louis Andriessen, a leading figure in contemporary music passed away on July 1, 2021 in Hogeweyk, near Amsterdam. He was 82. Andriessen was born in Utrecht; his father was composer Hendrik Andiessen who was also a professor of composition at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. He would study wih his father and Kees van {…}
Conductor Hans Drewanz passed away on June 22, 2021, in the city of Darmstadt. He was 91. Born in Dresden, Germany on December 2, 1929, he grew up in the city of Berlin and was a student at the Musisches Gymnasium in Frankfurt until the end of the Second World War in 1945. He then studied at the Frankfurt University {…}
American soprano Gianna Rolandi died on Sunday, June 20, 2021 at age 68. Rolandi was born in New York City on August 16, 1952, and grew up in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Her mother Jane Frazier was also a lyrical singer and her father was an Italian-born obstetrician. Rolandi began her musical studies as a violinist, but opera, especially such works {…}
Spanish tenor Francisco Ortiz Calurano, born in Almendralejo, Badajoz in 1938, died at the age of 82. Ortiz began his musical studies when he was 20-years-old at the Madrid Conservatory, where he stayed for two years. He then moved to Italy at 24 to study at La Scala in Milan for four years. He made his debut in Prague in {…}
Composer and conductor Cristóbal Halffter passed away on May 23, 2021 at the age of 91 in Villafranca del Bierzo. Halffter was born in Madrid, Spain and was educated at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid. A member of the so-called “Generación del 51,” he led the creation of Spanish music, highlighting pieces such as the Elegies to {…}
The Gayarre Amigos de la Ópera de Navarra Association has announced that bass-baritone Alfonso Echeverría died in Pamplona on May 19, 2021. He was 70. Born in San Sebastián, Spain, Echeverría studied at the Real Conservatorio Superior de la Música. He graduated in law from the Complutense University of Madrid, but his inclination was always towards music and he would {…}
Austrian soprano Maria Kouba has died at the age of 100. The family first reported the death of the well-known soprano. Kouba, who was born in Graz, Austria, became well known at the end of the 1950s, thanks to her interpretation in the title role of Richard Strauss’ “Salome.” She first sang the role in Graz in 1957, stepping in {…}
Moscow-born Russian baritone Vladimir Redkin passed away on May 12. Redkin enjoyed a long and successful career at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, where he sang most of his artistic life. He kicked off his studies at the Moscow State Conservatory, under the tutelage of Professor Zurab Sotkilava before eventually becoming a soloist with the Bolshoi Theater Opera Company. A {…}