Vernon Midgley
Encyclopedia
Vernon Midgley born 28 May 1940, is an English
tenor
.
Vernon was born in Worcester Park
, Surrey
. His parents were the tenor
Walter Midgley
and the pianist
Gladys Vernon. His sister is the soprano
Maryetta Midgley
.
He was educated at Bishop's Stortford College and the Royal Academy of Music
, where he studied music and the piano, as a Sisselle Way Scholar.
He first worked as an Entomologist at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
, Pest infestation Headquarters at Tolworth
, Surrey
.
He began broadcasting in "Lights of London" in 1971 and he has sung with the Ambrosian Opera Chorus and with most of the military and brass bands in Britain. He has sung in many full-length opera and operettas on BBC Radio 3
and he has also performed on BBC Radio 2
in "Grand Hotel", "Ring Up the Curtain", "Among Your Souvenirs", "Your Hundred Best Tunes
", "Baker
's Dozen", "Glamorous Nights", "Friday Night is Music Night
", "Melodies for You" and "Walter Midgley Remembers".
For some considerable time in the early 1960s he played the role of 'Freddie' in the stage production of My Fair Lady at Drury Lane, when Sam Lewis was musical director. Sam (a viola player) subsequently went to Israel where he still lives, and he remembers Vernon as a real 'gentleman' .
In the United States
, he is perhaps best known as the singing voice of Josef Locke
, who was played by Ned Beatty
in the film Hear My Song
.
Midgley is married to the New Zealand soprano
Alexandra Gordon, with one son and one daughter. He teaches voice at the University of Canterbury
in New Zealand
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
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...
.
Vernon was born in Worcester Park
Worcester Park
Worcester Park is a suburb of London, England covering both the extreme north west of the London Borough of Sutton in Greater London , part of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey and The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. The area is south west of Charing Cross...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. His parents were the 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...
Walter Midgley
Walter Midgley
Walter Midgley was an English operatic tenor who sang leading roles at the Royal Opera House and elsewhere from the 1930s to the 1950s....
and the pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
Gladys Vernon. His sister is the soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
Maryetta Midgley
Maryetta Midgley
Maryetta Midgley is an English soprano.Maryetta was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the daughter of the International Operatic tenor Walter Midgley and the pianist, Gladys Vernon. Her brother is the international tenor Vernon Midgley. She was educated at the Holy Cross Convent, New Malden, Surrey,...
.
He was educated at Bishop's Stortford College and the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
, where he studied music and the piano, as a Sisselle Way Scholar.
He first worked as an Entomologist at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a United Kingdom government department created by the Board of Agriculture Act 1889 and at that time called the Board of Agriculture, and then from 1903 the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and from 1919 the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries...
, Pest infestation Headquarters at Tolworth
Tolworth
Tolworth is a mostly residential area of outer South London in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, located south west of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include: New Malden, Kingston, Surbiton, Berrylands, Chessington, Ewell and Worcester Park....
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
.
He began broadcasting in "Lights of London" in 1971 and he has sung with the Ambrosian Opera Chorus and with most of the military and brass bands in Britain. He has sung in many full-length opera and operettas on BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
and he has also performed on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
in "Grand Hotel", "Ring Up the Curtain", "Among Your Souvenirs", "Your Hundred Best Tunes
Your Hundred Best Tunes
Your Hundred Best Tunes was a long-running BBC radio music programme, always broadcast on Sunday evenings, which presented popular works which were mostly classical excerpts, choral works, opera and ballads. The hundred tunes which made up the playlist were initially selected by the creator and...
", "Baker
Richard Baker (broadcaster)
Richard Baker OBE is a British broadcaster best known as a newsreader for the BBC News from 1954 to 1982. He was a contemporary of Kenneth Kendall and Robert Dougall and was the first person to read the BBC Television News in 1954. At one time he lived in Barnet, North London...
's Dozen", "Glamorous Nights", "Friday Night is Music Night
Friday Night is Music Night
Friday Night is Music Night is a long running live BBC radio concert programme featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra, broadcast most Fridays on BBC Radio 2 at 8.00pm. It is the world's longest-running live music radio programme....
", "Melodies for You" and "Walter Midgley Remembers".
For some considerable time in the early 1960s he played the role of 'Freddie' in the stage production of My Fair Lady at Drury Lane, when Sam Lewis was musical director. Sam (a viola player) subsequently went to Israel where he still lives, and he remembers Vernon as a real 'gentleman' .
In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, he is perhaps best known as the singing voice of Josef Locke
Josef Locke
Josef Locke was the stage name of Joseph McLaughlin , a tenor singer who was successful in the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s....
, who was played by Ned Beatty
Ned Beatty
Ned Thomas Beatty is an American actor who has appeared in more than 100 films and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain and a Golden Globe Award; won a Drama Desk Award....
in the film Hear My Song
Hear My Song
Hear My Song is a 1991 film, written by the actors Peter Chelsom and Adrian Dunbar , based on the story of Irish tenor Josef Locke...
.
Midgley is married to the New Zealand soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
Alexandra Gordon, with one son and one daughter. He teaches voice at the University of Canterbury
University of Canterbury
The University of Canterbury , New Zealand's second-oldest university, operates its main campus in the suburb of Ilam in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand...
in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Sources
- Gritten, David, "Locke Sings a Different Tune", Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, 5 March 1992 - International Who's Who in Music and Musicians' Directory. 10th edition. Cambridge, England: International Who's Who in Music, 1984.
- University of CanterburyUniversity of CanterburyThe University of Canterbury , New Zealand's second-oldest university, operates its main campus in the suburb of Ilam in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand...
, Faculty biography: Vernon Midgley (accessed 28 January 2010)
External links
- Vernon Midgley at the University of Canterbury