John Wakefield 1936 – 2019

Biography

Born in Yorkshire in 1936 John Wakefield studied at the Royal Academy of Music and went on to make his operatic debut with Welsh National Opera in 1961 in Rimsky Korsokov's May Night. Notable roles during his career include Macduff in Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth (Glyndebourne, 1964) and Rinuccio in Giacomo Pucinni’s Gianni Schicchi (Royal Opera House, 1965). He made is American debut at Santa Fe opera singing Tamino on Wolfgan Amadeus Mozart's Magic Flute (1971). He also had extensive oratorio and concert performance engagements internationally, working with renowned conductors including Colin Davies, Sir Thomas Beecham and Georg Solti. John was honoured to receive the Kathleen Ferrier Scholarship in 1958 and the Tenor Prize, S’hertogenbusch, 1959.

John joined Trinity Laban (then Trinity College of Music) as Professor of Singing in the 1970s, becoming Director of Opera in 1980. He continued to teach in the Vocal Department until December 2018. 

John passed away 8 November 2019.