John Shirley-Quirk (Baritone)
Born: 28th August 1931, Liverpool, England
Died: 7th April 2014, Bath, England
Nationality: English
John Shirley-Quirk was born in Liverpool in 1931 and originally had no intention of becoming a professional musician: he studied sciences at Liverpool University and spent his early working life as a chemistry lecturer, taking private singing-lessons with Roy Henderson (who also taught Kathleen Ferrier) before his performing career began to take off in the early 1960s. His professional opera debut was at Glyndebourne (as The Doctor in Debussy’s Pélleas et Mélisande – he would go on to become a celebrated Golaud) in 1962, and shortly afterwards he was noticed by Benjamin Britten whilst singing Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in Ipswich; it was the beginning of a fruitful association which saw Shirley-Quirk create the roles of the Ferryman in Curlew River, Spencer Coyle in Owen Wingrave, and the multiple baritone characters in Death in Venice (he was committed to new music throughout his career, with other notable premieres including Delius’s Requiem and Tippett’s The Ice-Break).
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Obituary,
John Shirley-Quirk (1931-2014)
Much-loved singer who created major roles in operas by Britten and Tippett dies aged 82.
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