Eleanor Calbes (20 February 1940 – 19 April 2016) was a Filipina soprano. Calbes was the first woman from the Philippines to perform on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, and she performed globally until retiring in September 2012. She was inducted into the

Mississauga Music Walk of Fame Mississauga Music Walk of Fame was established in 2012 by late Councillor Jim Tovey in Memorial Park in Port Credit, Mississauga, Ontario, to recognize musical talent that have their origins in the Ontario city. It was launched during the Southsid ...

in 2013.

Early life and education

Calbes was born in

Aparri Aparri ( ilo, Ili ti Aparri; tl, Bayan ng Aparri), officially the Municipality of Aparri, is a 1st class municipality in the province of , Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 68,839 people. It sits at the mouth of ...

, Cagayan in the Philippines. In 1961, she completed a diploma in education. Calbes was also awarded a scholarship with

The Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Con ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Career

Calbes began her opera career with the

Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company The Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company is the oldest dance company in the Philippines.Canadian Opera Company The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Cent ...

from 1963 to 1967 and becoming a Canadian citizen. Outside of Canada, Calbes sang in various parts of the world including the United States, Germany and the Philippines. During her career, she appeared in multiple

musicals including '' South Pacific'' and ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...

''. She was the first woman from Philippines on Broadway. Calbes ended her singing career in 2012. Apart from singing, Calbes began directing musicals in 1983 with a production of ''

The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the chil ...

'' and started Mississauga City Centre Opera in 1985. Calbes also opened studios in dance and singing in Mississauga.

Personal life and death

Calbes was married twice. She had a child, actress and producer Lara Wickes with author David A.B. Wickes. The couple divorced and Eleanor married a fellow Canadian opera singer, John Davidson Thomson. She died at the age of 76 from cancer.

Awards and honors

In 1996, Calbes was chosen as the best musician of the year for Mississauga. In 2013, Calbes was inducted into the

. The following year, she won the Laurie Pallett Patron of the Arts award at the 2014 Mississauga Arts Awards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calbes, Eleanor 1940 births 2016 deaths Filipino sopranos Canadian sopranos