Bass singer active in the Philadelphia area who studied at Temple University and performed with The Philadelphia Singers and appeared on their 1987 holiday recording Gloria! Gloria!
He was active in the opera community in Philadelphia and performed as Jupiter in a 1985 production of Orphee aux enfers staged by the Temple University Opera Theatre, been the undertaker and Frazier in a 1988 performance of Porgy and Bess put on by Opera North and Harapha in Handel’s Samson and the Sorceror from Dido and Aeneas both staged by the Pennsylvania Pro Musica in 1995. Also in 1995 he appeared as Frazier again in Porgy & Bess by the San Diego Opera and he performed with Pennsylvania Pro Musica again in 1996 as Polyphemus in Acts and Galatea and Ismeron in Henry Purcell’s The Indian Queen.
In the field of musical education he has been on the Affiliate Faculty of Temple University as Lecturer of Voice.
The Philadelphia Singers recordings
Adeste Fidelis (Frederick Oakeley/John Francis Wade)
RCA 6559-2-RC (Gloria! Gloria!)
Soprano – Benita Valente
Concerto Soloists Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia
Conductor – Michael Korn
Here’s “O Holy Night” from Gloria! Gloria! performed by Benita Valente, The Philadelphia Singers and the Concerto Soloists Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia…
Sources:
- http://frankhamilton.org/ph/ph3.pdf
- http://www.sdopera.com/Company/PerformanceHistory
- http://www.temple.edu/bulletin/archive/webarchive/ugbulletin98/music/faculty_music.html
- CD Liner Notes: Gloria! Gloria!