Jon Vickers

This article is about the Canadian opera singer. For other people with similar names, see John Vickers (disambiguation).

Jon Vickers
CC
Born
Jonathan Stewart Vickers

(1926-10-29)October 29, 1926
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada
DiedJuly 10, 2015(2015-07-10) (aged 88)
Ontario, Canada
EducationThe Royal Conservatory
OccupationOpera singer (tenor)
Organizations
AwardsGovernor General's Awards

Jonathan Stewart Vickers, CC (October 29, 1926 – July 10, 2015), known professionally as Jon Vickers, was a Canadian heldentenor.

Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, he was the sixth in a family of eight children. In 1950, he was awarded a scholarship to study opera at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. In 1957 Vickers joined London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden company. In 1960 he joined the Metropolitan Opera. He became world-famous for a wide range of German, French, and Italian roles. Vickers' huge, powerful voice and solid technique met the demands of many French, German, and Italian roles. He was also highly regarded for his powerful stage presence and thoughtful characterizations.[1] (Conversely, he was sometimes criticized for "scooping"—beginning a note below pitch and then sliding up to the correct pitch—and for "crooning".[2])

In 1968 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. Vickers received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts, in 1998.[3]

  1. ^ "Jon Vickers, tenor – obituary". The Telegraph. July 12, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  2. ^ "Reputations – Jon Vickers". Gramophone. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
  3. ^ "Jon Vickers biography". Governor General's Performing Arts Awards Foundation. Retrieved February 4, 2015.