Vernon Midgley (born 28 May 1940) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

Life and career

Midgley was born in

Worcester Park Worcester Park is a suburban town in South London, England. It lies in the London boroughs of Sutton and Kingston, and partly in the Surrey borough of Epsom and Ewell. The area is southwest of Charing Cross. The suburb's population was 16,031 ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. His parents were the

Walter Midgley and the

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

Gladys Midgley. His sister is the

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical 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 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

Maryetta Midgley. He was educated at Bishop's Stortford College and 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 ...

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

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

at the

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

Pest infestation Headquarters at

Tolworth Tolworth is a suburban area in the Surbiton district, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. It is southwest of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Berrylands, Chessington, Epsom, Ewell, Kingston upon Thames, Kingston, Lo ...

, Surrey. He began broadcasting in ''Lights of London'' in 1971. and he has sung with the

Ambrosian Opera Chorus The Ambrosian Singers are an English choral group based in London. History They were founded after World War II in England. One of their co-founders was Denis Stevens (1922–2004), a British musicologist and viola player who joined the BBC Mu ...

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 List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

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

Your Hundred Best Tunes ''Your Hundred Best Tunes'' was a 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 w ...

'', ''

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, 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 histo ...

'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 ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...

'' at Drury Lane. In the United States, he is perhaps best known as the singing voice of

Josef Locke Joseph McLaughlin (23 March 1917 – 15 October 1999), known professionally as Josef Locke, was an Irish tenor. He was successful in the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s. Background Born in Derry, Ireland, he was the son of a ...

, who was played by

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

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 ...

''.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 * Melodies Melodies All The Way, Maryetta and Vernon Midgley, orchestra of romance conducted by Harold Geller, produced by Bob Bowman. Philips International Series vinyl album 6382 113 * Maryetta and Vernon Midgley At Your Request with Gladys Midgley pianoforte, recording director John L Timperley, produced by Daniel Smeeton, MVM Records vinyl album Stereo MVM 1124 * Maryetta and Vernon Midgley Hosanna with The Ambrosian Singers, chorus master John McCarthy, organ William Davis, recording director John L Timperley, MVM Records vinyl album MVM 5560 Stereo

References

Sources

*Gritten, David
"Locke Sings a Different Tune"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', 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 (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

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