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Edward Quade Winter (April 8, 1951 – October 8, 2019) was an American composer, musical restorer and translator, specializing in the light operas of
Victor Herbert Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, cellist and conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is bes ...
. He began his career as a performer, singing opera for over two decades.


Early years and singing career

Winter was born in
Pendleton, Oregon Pendleton is a city and the county seat of Umatilla County, Oregon. The population was 17,107 at the time of the 2020 census, which includes approximately 1,600 people who are incarcerated at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution. Pendleton ...
, one of five children, including four sons, of Melvin Winter, a car dealer and former Pendleton mayor, and Margaret Winter, a housewife.Aney, Kathy
"Singer lived life on the opera stage"
'' East Oregonian'', October 26, 2019
As a child, Winter was enchanted by the comic operas of
Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which '' H.M.S. ...
and by science. He graduated from Pendleton High School in 1970 and the
University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
(1978) with degrees in theater and music."Obit: Edward Quade Winter"
''East Oregonian'', October 30, 2019
He began a musical theatre career but soon turned to classical music. He graduated from the Merola Opera Program in 1980. While there, he sang with San Francisco Opera. He then began a career as an 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 i ...
, singing roles in opera and oratorio, during the next 23 years, in Germany (where he lived in the 1980s), Austria, the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and elsewhere. For example, in 1993, Winter sang Calaf in '' Turandot'' with
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 ...
. In 1994, he sang Herod in
Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and early Modernism (music), modern eras, he has been descr ...
's '' Salome'' with Virginia Opera, a role he repeated in 1999 at Bellas Artes Opera in Mexico City, and in 2000 with Opera de las Americas in the Dominican Republic. He played Aegistheus in Strauss's ''
Elektra Electra was a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra in Greek mythology. Electra or Elektra may also refer to: Greek mythology *Electra (Pleiad), one of the Pleiades * Electra, one of the Danaids, daughter of Danaus and Polyxo * Electra (Oc ...
'' with the Canadian Opera Company in 1996, repeating the role with the Hawaii Opera Theatre in 1999. He was proud of his appearances at Carnegie Hall and La Scala in Milan.


Composing, translating and orchestrating

In 1996, Winter's first opera score, replacing
Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinafore'', '' The Pirates of Penzance ...
's lost score to '' Thespis'', was given its world premiere by the Ohio Light Opera, where Winter then became the composer-in-residence. His second score, '' The Carp'', replacing Alfred Cellier's lost score, was requested in 1998 by The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive for its Web Opera series. It was orchestrated and performed by the Ohio Light Opera in 1999. From 1997 to 2004, Winter was Composer-in-Residence at the Ohio Light Opera, and oversaw productions of many of his opera translations, including '' Boccaccio'' (von Suppé), ''
The Gypsy Baron ''The Gypsy Baron'' () is an operetta in three acts by Johann Strauss II which premiered at the Theater an der Wien on 24 October 1885. Its German libretto by Ignaz Schnitzer is based on the unpublished 1883 story ''Saffi'' by Mór Jókai. Jokai ...
'' (Strauss), '' The Merry Widow'' (Lehàr) and ''
Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original li ...
'' (Strauss). The OLO commissioned a number of critical editions of seldom performed operettas, starting with
Victor Herbert Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, cellist and conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is bes ...
's ''
Eileen Eileen ( or ) is an Irish feminine given name anglicised from Eibhlín and may refer to: People Artists * Eileen Agar (1899–1991), British Surrealist painter and photographer *Eileen Fisher (born 1950), clothing retailer and designer * Eilee ...
'' (1997), utilizing Herbert's original manuscripts in the collection of the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...
. Similar reconstructions followed: Herbert's '' The Red Mill'' (2001) and '' Sweethearts'' (2002),''Sweethearts''
at the Albany Records website, accessed 17 March 2010
and
Reginald De Koven Henry Louis Reginald De Koven (April 3, 1859January 16, 1920) was an American music critic and prolific composer, particularly of comic operas. Biography De Koven was born in Middletown, Connecticut, and moved to Europe in 1870, where he recei ...
's ''
Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is de ...
'' (2004). These works were issued as CDs on the Newport and Albany labels. In 2009, Winter restored Victor Herbert's ''
The Magic Knight ''The Magic Knight'' is a one-act Victorian burlesque with music by Victor Herbert and a libretto by Edgar Smith. The piece parodies Wagner's opera '' Lohengrin''. The original production opened at Weber's Music Hall in New York City on Dec ...
''. He has performed similar services for various organizations, including the
Rodgers and Hammerstein Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their popu ...
Organization's new engraving of Hammerstein's '' Carmen Jones''. In later years, he sang with the Pendleton Men’s Chorus for whom he translated and arranged music, also arranging music for the
Oregon East Symphony The Oregon East Symphony (OES) is an orchestra based in Pendleton, Oregon, United States. Highlights of the orchestra's repertoire include ongoing cycles of the orchestral works of Beethoven and Mahler, as well as major works by Elgar, Mozart, Hi ...
. Winter died of cardiac arrest on October 8, 2019.


References


External links


Quade Winter Online

Victor Herbert Renaissance Project

WVD Press

Quade Winter at Classical Composers Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winter, Quade American male composers 21st-century American composers 1951 births 2019 deaths People from Pendleton, Oregon University of Oregon alumni Singers from Oregon American operatic tenors American musicologists 21st-century American male musicians Classical musicians from Oregon