Jon Garrison (né Jon Long; born December 11, 1944 in

Higginsville, Missouri Higginsville is a city in Lafayette County, Missouri, within the United States. The population was 4,797 at the 2010 census. History Higginsville was founded in 1869 and named after Harvey Higgins, the original owner of the town site. A post of ...

) is a successful American operatic

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

who has been performing in locations around the world since 1965. He first appeared at the

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

in 1974, in a secondary role in the company premiere of ''Death in Venice'', which featured Sir

Peter Pears Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears ( ; 22 June 19103 April 1986) was an English tenor. His career was closely associated with the composer Benjamin Britten, his personal and professional partner for nearly forty years. Pears' musical career starte ...

. At that theatre, he has since been seen in ''Gianni Schicchi'' (as Rinuccio, 1975), ''Don Pasquale'' (as Ernesto, directed by

John Dexter John Dexter (2 August 1925 – 23 March 1990) was an English theatre, opera and film director. Theatre Born in Derby, Derbyshire, England, Dexter left school at the age of fourteen to serve in the British Army during the Second World War. F ...

, 1979), ''Fidelio'' (as Jaquino, with

Jon Vickers Jonathan Stewart Vickers, (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 ...

as Florestan, 1980), ''Wozzeck'' (as Andres, opposite

Anja Silja Anja Silja Regina Langwagen (, born 17 April 1940) is a German soprano singer. Biography Born in Berlin, Silja began her operatic career at a very early age, with her grandfather, Egon Friedrich Maria Anders van Rijn, as her voice teacher. She ...

, 1980), ''Don Giovanni'' (as Don Ottavio, 1994), ''Die Fledermaus'' (as Alfred, 1995), etc. Garrison has also appeared at 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 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, du ...

, debuting as Admète in ''Alceste'', in 1982. It was from that

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

that his performances in ''La rondine'' (1985) and ''Die Zauberflöte'' (1987) were televised via

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

; in 1986, he portrayed the title role of ''Werther'', opposite

Susanne Marsee Susanne Marsee (born Susan Irene Dowell; November 26, 1941, San Diego, California) is an American mezzo-soprano of note, particularly acclaimed as a singing-actress. Her principal teacher was Nadine Conner, and her educational background includes ...

as Charlotte. He has sung with companies throughout the United States, as well as in Europe, including Robert Wilson's Stuttgart production of ''Alceste'', with

Dunja Vejzovic Dunja ( sr-cyr, Дуња) is a Serbo-Croatian feminine given name which is in fact homonymous with the vocabulary word for " quince." It derives from the Russian pet form of the Greek name Evdokia. It is a popular name in Serbia, Croatia, and ...

in the name part. The tenor was also heard in the world premieres of Weisgall's ''The Gardens of Adonis'' and Reise's ''Rasputin''. In 1996, at the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...

, the tenor sang the difficult part of Baron Descartes in Zimmermann's ''Die Soldaten''. He has made several recordings, including Musgrave's ''Mary, Queen of Scots'' (1979), Handel's Roman Vespers (with

Judith Blegen Judith Blegen (April 27, 1943, Lexington, Kentucky) is an American soprano, particularly associated with light lyric roles of the French, Italian and German repertories. Life and career Blegen was raised and attended high school in Missoula, Monta ...

, Benita Valente,

Maureen Forrester Maureen Kathleen Stewart Forrester, (July 25, 1930 – June 16, 2010) was a Canadian operatic contralto. Life and career Maureen Forrester was born and grew up in Montreal, Quebec, one of four children of Thomas Forrester, a Scottish cabinetmak ...

, and John Cheek, 1985, for

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

), Tippett's ''A Child of Our Time'' (with the composer conducting, 1991), Stravinsky's ''The Rake's Progress'' (with

Jayne West Jayne West is an American operatic soprano, who was born in White Plains, New York, and was raised in Framingham, Massachusetts. After graduation from Oberlin College, she moved to Boston, where she studied at the Boston Conservatory. West has ap ...

, conducted by

Robert Craft Robert Lawson Craft (October 20, 1923 – November 10, 2015) was an American conductor and writer. He is best known for his intimate professional relationship with Igor Stravinsky, on which Craft drew in producing numerous recordings and books. ...

, 1993) and Haydn's ''La cantarina'' (on

Newport Classic Newport Classic, Ltd, is a record label of classical music, founded by Larry Kraman, and is located in Newport, Rhode Island. In its catalog are recordings of both familiar and unusual works, including ''Casanova's Homecoming'', ''A Waterbird Talk ...

, with

D'Anna Fortunato D'Anna Fortunato (born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on February 21, 1945) is an American mezzo-soprano. She has long been an admired favorite on the American orchestral-concert scene, while establishing herself as a respected operatic artist as we ...

, 1994). Garrison lives in

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, th ...

, and teaches voice and diction classes at

Rowan University Rowan University is a public research university in Glassboro, New Jersey, with a medical campus in Stratford and medical and academic campuses in Camden. It was founded in 1923 as Glassboro Normal School on a site donated by 107 residents. ...

.Garcia, Alfa
"Article: Celebrating the arts"
''

The Record (Bergen County) ''The Record'' (also called ''The North Jersey Record'', ''The Bergen Record'', ''The Sunday Record'' (Sunday edition) and formerly ''The Bergen Evening Record'') is a newspaper in New Jersey, United States. Serving Bergen, Essex, Hudson and P ...

'', January 18, 2008. Accessed February 15, 2010. He has a son Michael, and a grandson Nikash, who live in Delaware.

References

Bibliography

* ''The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia'', edited by David Hamilton, Simon and Schuster, 1987.

External links

* , with

Stephen Dickson Stephen Dickson (16 February 1951 – 18 October 1991) was an American baritone who had an active career in operas and concerts from 1972 through 1990. He was active with the United States's most important opera companies during the 1980s, sharing ...

(1987). {{DEFAULTSORT:Garrison, Jon 1944 births Living people American operatic tenors People from Teaneck, New Jersey Rowan University faculty People from Higginsville, Missouri Singers from Missouri Singers from New Jersey Classical musicians from New Jersey Classical musicians from Missouri