Graham Clark (singer)
Encyclopedia
Graham Clark is an English opera
tenor
, mainly known for his character roles like Loge (Das Rheingold
), Mime (Siegfried
) and the Captain (Wozzeck
). He has sung at The Royal Opera, English National Opera
, Glyndebourne Festival Opera
, Opera North
, Scottish Opera
, and Welsh National Opera
in the UK, all the leading North American and European opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera
New York(15 seasons) and the Bayreuth Festival
(16 seasons) and he has recorded for all the major companies.
Clark studied at Kirkham Grammar School
- where he was Captain of School - Loughborough College of Education and Loughborough University
. After a few years as a PE teacher and then as a Senior Regional Officer of the Sports Council, he took up singing. In 1975 he joined Scottish Opera
, was a Principal with English National Opera
from 1977 to 1985 and has had an extensive international career from 1976 to 2011. He has been nominated three times for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Opera Awards, including an Emmy and won the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera
in 1986 for his role as Mephistopheles in Doktor Faust
.
He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters by Loughborough University in 1999.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
, mainly known for his character roles like Loge (Das Rheingold
Das Rheingold
is the first of the four operas that constitute Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen . It was originally written as an introduction to the tripartite Ring, but the cycle is now generally regarded as consisting of four individual operas.Das Rheingold received its premiere at the National Theatre...
), Mime (Siegfried
Siegfried (opera)
Siegfried is the third of the four operas that constitute Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner. It received its premiere at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 16 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of The Ring...
) and the Captain (Wozzeck
Wozzeck
Wozzeck is the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1914 and 1922 and first performed in 1925. The opera is based on the drama Woyzeck left incomplete by the German playwright Georg Büchner at his death. Berg attended the first production in Vienna of Büchner's...
). He has sung at The Royal Opera, English National Opera
English National Opera
English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
, Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an English opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England.-History:...
, Opera North
Opera North
Opera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and the Theatre Royal, Newcastle...
, Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies funded by the Scottish Government...
, and Welsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera is an opera company founded in Cardiff, Wales in 1943. The WNO tours Wales, the United Kingdom and the rest of the world extensively. Annually, it gives more than 120 performances of eight main stage operas to a combined audience of around 150,000 people...
in the UK, all the leading North American and European opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
New York(15 seasons) and the Bayreuth Festival
Bayreuth Festival
The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...
(16 seasons) and he has recorded for all the major companies.
Clark studied at Kirkham Grammar School
Kirkham Grammar School
Kirkham Grammar School is a co-educational independent school in Kirkham, Lancashire, England . It was founded in 1549. Its roots can be traced back to the chantry school attached to St Michael's Church in the 13th century. The school remained in the church grounds until it moved to occupy...
- where he was Captain of School - Loughborough College of Education and Loughborough University
Loughborough University
Loughborough University is a research based campus university located in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands of England...
. After a few years as a PE teacher and then as a Senior Regional Officer of the Sports Council, he took up singing. In 1975 he joined Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies funded by the Scottish Government...
, was a Principal with English National Opera
English National Opera
English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
from 1977 to 1985 and has had an extensive international career from 1976 to 2011. He has been nominated three times for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Opera Awards, including an Emmy and won the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera
Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera
The Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera is an annual award presented by The Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial British theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in 1976, and, renamed in 1984 in honour...
in 1986 for his role as Mephistopheles in Doktor Faust
Doktor Faust
Doktor Faust is an opera by Ferruccio Busoni with a German libretto by the composer himself, based on the myth of Faust. Busoni worked on the opera, which he intended as his masterpiece, between 1916 and 1924, but it was still incomplete at the time of his death. His pupil Philipp Jarnach finished it...
.
He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters by Loughborough University in 1999.