Jon Vickers was born in Prince Albert (Saskatchewan) in 1926. As a teenager he sang in church choirs and performed several roles in operetta productions. In the fall of 1950, he obtained a scholarship and studied with Georges Lambert. During his first year in Toronto, he sang in many recitals and took part in many concerts. In 1956 he made his New York debut, and also auditioned for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where he was engaged for a three-year contract. After a performance as Siegmund in Die Walküre by Wagner at Bayreuth, he was acclaimed as the world’s leading performer of the role. In the following years, he sang at the Staatsoper in Vienna, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and La Scala in Milan with colleagues such as Maria Callas, Régine Crespin and Birgit Nilsson, under internationally-known conductors including Mehta and Karajan, with whom he recorded Tristan und Isolde and Die Walküre by Wagner, Otello by Verdi and Fidelio by Beethoven. He also appeared in film versions of Pagliacci by Leoncavallo and Otello by Verdi. During his fruitful carreer, he sang most of major dramatic tenor and “Heldentenor roles: Don Jose, Radames, Don Carlo, Canio, Otello, Parsifal, Tristan, Siegmund and his favourite role, Peter Grimes. A Companion of the Order of Canada, Jon Vickers has been elected to the Academy of Vocal Arts Hall of Fame for Great American Singers. He has now settled in Bermuda.
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