Leslie Holmes (30 April 1901 – 27 December 1960) was a Canadian

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

and voice teacher. Holmes was born in Lesser Slave Lake in 1901. He was a celebrated singer in oratorios, concerts, and recitals in Canada and England from the 1920s-1950s. He appeared as a soloist with several notable music ensembles during his career, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the

Montreal Orchestra The Montreal Orchestra (MO) was a professional Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec that was active from 1930–1941. While not Montreal's first orchestra, the MO is considered by music historians to be the first professional sympho ...

, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He was also a soloist at the

Montreal Festivals The Montreal Festivals (french: Festivals de Montréal) was an arts festival held annually in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1936-1965. The festival was originally dedicated to the performance of classical music, presenting concerts of symphonic w ...

. Holmes studied singing at the

Canadian Academy of Music Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

with

Albert Ham Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...

and at the Royal College of Music in London with

Harry Plunkett Greene Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

. He was a professor of singing at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto (1946-1947, and 1954-1959) and at 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 ...

in London (1947-1954). Several of his pupils had successful careers, including

James Milligan James Keith Milligan (born 24 August 1978) is an Australian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly from 2016 to 2020, representing the electorate of Yerrabi. He ran a graphic design publis ...

Jan Simons Jan Simons (11 November 1925 – 7 May 2006) was a Canadian baritone, music teacher and administrator. Complementing a vocal performance career in Canada in the 1950s and 1960s, he was a member of the faculty of music at McGill University in Mo ...

, and

Harry Mossfield Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

among others.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Leslie 1901 births 1960 deaths Academics of the Royal Academy of Music Alumni of the Royal College of Music Canadian male singers Canadian operatic baritones The Royal Conservatory of Music faculty