Averil Mary Thomas (2 August 1932 – 17 April 1997) was a Welsh soprano.

Career

After studying at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

, she established herself in the 1960s as a successful

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

performer. She appeared as a soloist as well as a member of the

Deller Consort Alfred George Deller, CBE (31 May 1912 – 16 July 1979), was an English singer and one of the main figures in popularising the return of the countertenor voice in Renaissance and Baroque music during the 20th century. He is sometimes referre ...

. She was also notable for her work in contemporary music.

Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...

wrote pieces with her voice and dramatic ability in mind.

Notable performances

She gave the first performances of a number of works by Peter Maxwell Davies, accompanied by the

Fires of London The Fires of London, founded as the Pierrot Players, was a British chamber music ensemble which was active from 1965 to 1987. The Pierrot Players was founded by Harrison Birtwistle, Alan Hacker, and Stephen Pruslin.''Who’s Who 1975'', page 13 ...

. * ''Revelation and Fall'' (premiered February 1968, adapted 1980). * '' Missa super l'homme armé'' (premiered February 1968, revised 1971). She appeared at

the Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

between 1962 and 1983, singing music ranging from

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

to Maxwell Davies.

Selected recordings

* Thomas's vocals appeared on the 1976 ELO tracks "

Rockaria! "Rockaria!" is a song by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), written by Jeff Lynne. It was the third track on the band's successful 1976 album ''A New World Record'', and was the second single from the album. On some CD pressings of ''A New World Rec ...

" and "Shangri-La" from the album ''

A New World Record ''A New World Record'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was released on 15 October 1976, by United Artists Records in the United States and on 19 November 1976, by Jet Records in the United K ...

''; "Rockaria!", released as a single in 1977, reached the Top Ten on the UK Singles Chart. * ''Revelation and Fall'' (reissued on CD in 2004)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Mary 1932 births 1997 deaths Musicians from Swansea Welsh sopranos 20th-century Welsh women singers