Pablo Elvira (September 24, 1937 – February 5, 2000) was a Puerto Rican

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

. He performed with the

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through its 2013 bankruptcy, and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, dubbed "the peopl ...

and the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

, and he was a strong supporter of opera in the state of

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, where he co-founded the Intermountain Opera in

Bozeman Bozeman ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. The 2020 United States census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it Montana's fourth-largest city. It is the principal city of the Bozeman, Montan ...

Life

Elvira was born on September 24, 1937, in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

, Puerto Rico. He began his musical career playing

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

there, with his uncle, Rafael Elvira, in his orchestra, he continued in his father's band and later started his own band who played at the Hotel San Juan. In 1966, he joined the voice faculty of the

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

School of Music; during his eight years there he performed baritone roles in many of the school's opera productions. In 1974, Elvira made his first appearance with the

. He debuted at the

in 1978 and performed there over 100 times during the next 12 years in works by Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, Berlioz and Leoncavallo. Elvira was a strong supporter of opera in the state of Montana. With Anthony Stivanello and Joe Bostick, he co-founded the Intermountain Opera Association of Montana in

Bozeman, Montana Bozeman ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. The 2020 United States census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it Montana's fourth-largest city. It is the principal city of the Bozeman, Montan ...

, in 1979. Elvira married Signe Landoe in 1975, and they moved to

, one year later. They had a son, Pablo. Elvira died on February 5, 2000, in Bozeman, Montana. He's ashes were deposited in a niche in the San Vicente de Paul Parish in

Discography

* Casals: ''El Pessebre'' (Iglesias, Forrester; Casals; 1974) COL * Montemezzi: ''L'amore dei tre re'' (Moffo, Domingo, Siepi; Santi, 1976) RCA * Mascagni: ''Cavalleria rusticana'' (Scotto, Domingo; Levine, 1978) RCA

Videos

* Puccini: ''Manon Lescaut'' (Scotto, Domingo; Levine, Menotti, 1980)

ive Ive or IVE may refer to: Music * Ive (group), a South Korean girl group * I've Sound (aka "I've"), a Japanese musical group People * Ive (given name), a Croatian and Slovenian given name * Bert Ive (1875–1939), British-born Australian cinema ...

* Donizetti: ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' (Sutherland, Kraus, Plishka; Bonynge, Donnell, 1982)

References

External links

Interview with Pablo Elvira
by Bruce Duffie, November 23, 1985 {{DEFAULTSORT:Elvira, Pablo 1937 births 2000 deaths Singers from San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican opera singers Singers from Montana Classical musicians from Montana American operatic baritones People from Bozeman, Montana Indiana University faculty 20th-century American male opera singers