- Vinson Cole
Vinson Cole, (born
November 21 ,1950 ), is an Americanopera tictenor .A native of
Kansas City , the tenor studied at theUniversity of Missouri , Kansas City; the Philadelphia Musical Academy; and theCurtis Institute of Music . He made his European debut inAngers , France inHandel ’s "Acis and Galatea" and followed that with the role of Belmonte inMozart ’s "Abduction from the Seraglio" with theWelsh National Opera . In 1977, his youthful promise was recognized when he won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions, the WGN Competition, and was awarded bothRockefeller Foundation and National Opera Institute grants.As his career unfolded, he went on to sing leading roles in many major opera houses including the
Metropolitan Opera ,San Francisco Opera ,Opera National de Paris and Paris Opera-Bastille,Teatro alla Scala , and the theatres in Berlin, Vienna, and Hamburg. For nine years, he sang at theSalzburg Festival . In the United States, he has sung with theNew York City ,Seattle ,Houston , Santa Fe, and St. Louis opera companies.In 1997, he returned to open the season at
La Scala as Renaud inGluck 's "Armide" withRiccardo Muti conducting. He made hisChicago Lyric Opera debut in the title role ofMozart 's "Idomeneo" in 1998 and his debut with the Royal Opera at Covent Garden in 1999 in another Mozart title role, "La Clemenza di Tito". In the 2001 season, he returned to the Met as Alfredo in "La traviata " opposite the Violetta ofJune Anderson .Cole is closely identified with the French repertory. He began moving in that direction in 1984, after he sang in the "Manon" centennial performances at Paris's Opéra Comique. Not long afterward, he sang the tenor version of
Gluck 's "Orphée" inSeattle , after which many other French works came his way: "Lakmé", "Werther", "Carmen", "Don Carlos", "Faust", and "La damnation de Faust".Cole has sung extensively with orchestras throughout his career and has worked with many of the world’s leading conductors including
Herbert von Karajan , SirGeorg Solti (with whom he recorded the Mozart "Requiem" on the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death),Seiji Ozawa , SirSimon Rattle ,Kurt Masur ,James Levine ,Edo de Waart ,Charles Dutoit ,Michael Tilson Thomas ,Gerard Schwarz , Andrew Davis,Zubin Mehta ,Riccardo Muti ,Carlo Maria Giulini ,Vladimir Ashkenazy ,Claudio Abbado , andDaniel Barenboim .Cole has taught at the [http://www.music.washington.edu/home/ University of Washington School of Music] and at the
Aspen Music Festival and School . He has also conducted masterclasses for the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program and theCanadian Opera Company . Vinson is currently a faculty member at the Conservatory of Music and Dance at UMKC and resides in Mission, KS, a suburb of Kansas City.References
*cite web
url = http://www.music.washington.edu/faculty/faculty_bio.php?ID=73
title = University of Washington School of Music - Faculty Listing
accessdate = 2006-09-13
*cite web
url = http://www.newenglandconservatory.edu/newsHightlights/TenorVinsonColetoJoinNewEnglandConservatoryVoiceFaculty.html
title = Tenor Vinson Cole to Join New England Conservatory Voice Faculty
accessdate = 2006-09-13
date = 2006-03-10
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.