Vernon Midgley (born 28 May 1940) is an English tenor.

Life and career

Midgley was born in Worcester Park,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. His parents were the tenor

Walter Midgley Walter Midgley (13 September 1912 – 18 September 1980) was an English opera tenor who sang leading roles at the Royal Opera House and elsewhere from the 1930s to the 1950s. Early life Midgley was born in Bramley, near Rotherham. Af ...

and the pianist

Gladys Midgley Walter Midgley (13 September 1912 – 18 September 1980) was an English opera tenor who sang leading roles at the Royal Opera House and elsewhere from the 1930s to the 1950s. Early life Midgley was born in Bramley, near Rotherham. Af ...

. His sister is the

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

Maryetta Midgley Maryetta Midgley (born 27 May 1942) is an English soprano singer. Midgley was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the daughter of operatic tenor Walter Midgley and pianist Gladys Vernon. She is the sister of tenor Vernon Midgley. She was educated at ...

. He was educated at Bishop's Stortford College and the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire 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 first Duke of ...

, where he studied music and the piano as a Sisselle Way Scholar. He first worked as an

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

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 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

, and he has also performed on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

in ''Grand Hotel'', ''Ring Up the Curtain'', ''Among Your Souvenirs'', '' Your Hundred Best Tunes'', ''

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who bakes and sometimes sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient history Since grains ha ...

's Dozen'', ''Glamorous Nights'', '' Friday Night is Music Night'', ''Melodies for You'' and Walter Midgley Remembers. He appeared frequently on BBC TV's long running variety show ''The Good Old Days'' with his sister Maryetta. For some considerable time in the early 1960s he played Freddie in the stage production of '' My Fair Lady'' at Drury Lane. In the United States, he is perhaps best known as the singing voice of Josef Locke, who was played by

Ned Beatty Ned Thomas Beatty (July 6, 1937 – June 13, 2021) was an American actor and comedian. In a career that spanned five decades, he appeared in more than 160 films. Throughout his career, Beatty gained a reputation for being "the busiest actor in ...

in the film ''

Hear My Song ''Hear My Song'' is a 1991 British comedy-drama film directed by Peter Chelsom, who co-wrote the screenplay with Adrian Dunbar, based on the story of Irish tenor Josef Locke. It was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 46th British Acad ...

''.Gritten (5 March 1992) Midgley is married to the New Zealand soprano Alexandra Gordon, with one son and one daughter. He teaches voice at the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Arts at Ara Institute of Canterbury, New Zealand. He is featured, with his sister Maryetta, on the song "Witness to a Murder (Part Two)" on Mansun's 1998 album ''Six''.

Discography

* Jerome Kern: ''Show Boat'', conducted by John McGlinn, EMI, 1988

References

Sources

*Gritten, David
"Locke Sings a Different Tune"
'' Los Angeles Times'', 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 Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

Faculty biography: Vernon Midgley
(accessed 28 January 2010)

External links

Vernon Midgley
at the University of Canterbury * English opera singers English tenors Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Living people Academic staff of the University of Canterbury 1940 births {{UK-opera-singer-stub