The Italian tenor Giorgio Merighi has died at the 80 years on Jan. 12, 2020. Born on Feb. 20, 1939, the tenor studied at the Conservatorio Gioachino Rossini di Pesaro and went on to make his debut in 1962 as Riccardo in “Un ballo in Maschera” alongside Renato Bruson at the Spoleto Festival. That debut would lead him to Bilbao {…}
(Credit: Michael Lewin Artists) German director Harry Kupfer has died at the age of 84. Born in Berlin, Kupfer studied at the Theaterhochschule Leipzig and became the assistant director at the Landestheater Halle, where he went on to direct his first opera, Dvořák’s “Rusalka.”After his debut the he worked at the Theater Stralsund, the Theater in Karl-Marx-Stadt, and the Nationaltheater {…}
Opera singer and conductor Peter Schreier, who won fame at the Salzburg festival and Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, has died in Dresden, Germany. The tenor, who was 84, died on Wednesday on Dec. 25, 2019. Schreier was born July 29, 1935 in Meissen, Saxony, Germany when he spent his first years in the small village of Gauernitz, where his father was {…}
(Credit: David Ebener/DPA) Bayreuth Festival’s press chief Peter Emmerich has died. The Bayreuth Festival announced the news of Emmerich’s death who served as the press spokesman of the Bayreuth Festival for 30 years. Emmerich began his work at the Bayreuth in 1989 after working at the Semperoper in Dresden. In a statement, the Festival said, “The Bayreuth Festival is shocked {…}
Latvian conductor Mariss Jansons died last night Nov. 30, 2019 at his home in St. Petersburg, Russia. Jansons, who was 76 years old, died of an apparent longstanding heart condition. Born in Riga, Jansons entered the Leningrad Conservatoryin 1956 to study piano and conducting and continued his training with Hans Swarowsky in Vienna and Herbert Von Karajan in Salzburg. Shortly {…}
(Credit: Royal Opera House) Jonathan Miller has died at the age of 85. The British director grew up in St John’s Wood, London and was educated at St Paul’s School and St John’s College, Cambridge. He went on to study natural sciences and medicine and later went on to qualify as a medical doctor in 1959. In 1962, he went {…}
John Wegner has died at the age of 69 of Parkinson’s Disease. When the baritone was first diagnosed in 2015, he told Advance Rehab Centre, “It was gut wrenching, I didn’t know much about it. The first thing you ask is how long to you have it before you’re really bad?” “Luckily I spoke to a Parkinson’s voice therapist and {…}
Soprano Paula Goodman Wilder has passed a way. “November 1, Paula passed away,” Her husband Alain Gaubert announced in a statement. “She left very slowly, without opening her eyes, just stopping breathing, with a beautiful calm face. All of you who knew her know what we have lost: passionate about paleontology, IT expert, fierce, poet, journalist, photographer, wonderful singer, speaking {…}
Greek contralto Yeoryia Megremis has died. The acclaimed singer graduated from the University of Indiana with a major in opera and won first prize in vocal and operatic studies at the Athens Conservatory in Greece. Following her studies in Greece, the singer competed at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions where she won the Regional Auditions and made a successful New {…}
Tenor John Wakefield has died at the age of 83. The British tenor, born on June 21, 1936 in Yorkshire, England, first studied Pharmacy before turning to music. In 1958 he received the Kathleen Ferrier Scholarship and went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music. with Roy Henderson and Ettore Campogalliani. He would later participate at the IVC {…}
(Credit: Michal Daniel) Mezzo-soprano Mika Shigematsu has died of pancreatic cancer in Osaka, Japan. The mezzo’s husband Shintaro Kobayashi posted a messgae stating, “I am deeply saddened to inform you that my wife Mika Shigematsu passed away in the morning of Oct. 23, 2019 in Osaka. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in late September. The funeral service took place {…}