Daniel Ferro

Daniel Ferro (born 10 April 1921) is an American bass-baritone and voice teacher. Although today he is known primarily as a teacher whose students have included many prominent opera singers,^[1] he also had a career as a singer himself both on the concert stage and in opera and musical theatre.

Life and career

Ferro was born in New York and graduated from the Juilliard School of Music (in 1948) and from Columbia University. A Fulbright scholarship enabled him to pursue further vocal studies in Austria at the Salzburg Mozarteum and in Italy at the Accademia Chigiana and the Accademia Santa Cecilia.^[2] During the early 1950s he was member of the Graz Opera Company in Austria where his appearances included Mathis der Maler (Truchsess von Waldburg) and Parsifal (Titurel).^[3] He also appeared on European concert stages and toured with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. When Ferro returned to the United States in 1956, he took up an apppointment as Associate Professor in the voice department at Butler University in Indiana. The 1960s found him in back in New York City, teaching at Hunter College and later at the Manhattan School of Music where he became chairman of the voice department. During that time, he also performed in both musical theatre and opera, including leading roles in musicals with St. John Terrell's Company and other summer stock theatres, a revival of The Saint of Bleecker Street in New York City, and concert performances of Werther in Carnegie Hall and William Tell at Lincoln Center.^[4][5]

In 1972, Ferro joined the faculty of the Juilliard School, a post he held until his retirement as "vocal faculty emeritus" in 2006. Since then he has continued to give master classes there. However his voice teaching has extended far beyond Juilliard both through his private voice studio in New York and his masterclasses at many of the world's conservatories including the Conservatoire de musique, Montréal, Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Royal College of Music, Stockholm and the Accademia Chigiana where he had once been a student himself. In France he has taught at the Opéra de Paris, Paris Conservatory and Fondation Royaumont and in 1988 was made an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government for his services to music.^[6] Among the many prominent opera singers who have studied with Ferro are Evelyn Lear,^[7] Thomas Stewart,^[8] Kathleen Battle,^[9] Alan Titus,^[1] Rosalind Elias,^[10] Patricia Brooks,^[11] and Richard Stilwell.^[1]

In 1995 Ferro founded the Daniel Ferro Vocal Program which takes place each summer in Greve in Chianti, Italy and remains its Artistic Director. The program includes master classes and private voice lessons for young singers as well as public performances in the Castello di Verrazzano and the town's piazza and churches.^[12] In 2011, the program faculty and students celebrated Ferro's 90th birthday.

Recording

Rodgers & Hammerstein: The King and I – Barbara Cook, Theodore Bikel, Daniel Ferro, Jeanette Scovotti, Anita Darian. Studio recording, Lehman Engel conductor, Columbia Records, 1964. Re-released on CD by Sony Broadway in 1993.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Blier, Steven (August 2003). "A singer's diary: Trading up". Opera News. Retrieved 14 October 2011 (subscription required).
2. ^ Opera Canada (1988). Volumes 29-30, p. 22
3. ^ List, Rudolf (1966). Oper und Operette in Graz pp. 141-143. Oberösterreichischer Landesverlag (German)
4. ^ Lambertville-Music-Circus.org. Leading Roles 1963. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
5. ^ New York Times (15 November 1965). "Massenet Opera is Revived Here; 'Werther' is Given its First Performance Since 1948".
6. ^ Daniel Ferro Vocal Program (Greve in Chianti, Italy). Faculty biographies. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
7. ^ Baker, David (May 2006). "Reunion: Evelyn Lear". Opera News. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
8. ^ Millington Barry (29 September 2006). "Obituary: Thomas Stewart, US baritone with a magisterial voice and striking presence". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
9. ^ Von Rhein, John (21 April 1985). "Soprano Kathleen Battle: From Unknown To Operatic Star Of Two Continents". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
10. ^ Hamilton, David (1987). "Elias, Rosalind", The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia, p. 116. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780671617325
11. ^ Cummings, David M. (1990). "Brooks, Patricia", Who's Who in Classical Music, p. 97. ISBN 0948875208
12. ^ Shakespeare, Margaret (May 2001). "Classroom With a View". Opera News. Retrieved 14 October 2011 (subscription required).

External links

• Daniel Ferro Vocal Program (Greve in Chianti, Italy) – Official website
• Image: Daniel Ferro and his wife Joy B. Ferro at Anna Moffo: a Celebration, Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, 20 September 2006
• Image Daniel Ferro during master classes at Shanghai Conservatory, 1982. Center for United States-China Arts Exchange

Persondata
Name	Ferro, Daniel
Alternative names
Short description	Opera singer
Date of birth	10 April 1921
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death