Vernon Midgley (born 28 May 1940) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

Life and career

Midgley was born in

Worcester Park Worcester Park is a suburban town in South West London, England. It lies in the London boroughs of Sutton and Kingston, and partly in the Surrey borough of Epsom and Ewell. The area is southwest of Charing Cross. The suburb's population was ...

, Surrey. His parents were the

Walter Midgley and the

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

Gladys Midgley. His sister is the soprano Maryetta Midgley. He was educated at Bishop's Stortford College and the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied music and the piano as a Sisselle Way Scholar. He first worked as an entomologist at the

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

Pest infestation Headquarters at

Tolworth Tolworth is a suburban area in the Surbiton district, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. It is southwest of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Long Ditton, New Malden, Kingston, Surbiton, Berrylands, Hinchley Wood, ...

, Surrey. He began broadcasting in ''Lights of London'' in 1971. and he has sung with the

Ambrosian Opera Chorus The Ambrosian Singers are an English choral group based in London. History They were founded after World War II in England. One of their co-founders was Denis Stevens (1922–2004), a British musicologist and viola player who joined the BBC Mu ...

and with most of the military and brass bands in Britain. He has sung in many full-length opera and operettas on BBC Radio 3, and he has also performed on BBC Radio 2 in ''Grand Hotel'', ''Ring Up the Curtain'', ''Among Your Souvenirs'', ''

Your Hundred Best Tunes ''Your Hundred Best Tunes'' was a BBC radio music programme, always broadcast on Sunday evenings, which presented popular works which were mostly classical excerpts, choral works, opera and ballads. The hundred tunes which made up the playlist w ...

'', '' Baker's Dozen'', ''Glamorous Nights'', '' Friday Night is Music Night'', ''Melodies for You'' and Walter Midgley Remembers. He appeared frequently on BBC TV's long running variety show ''The Good Old Days'' with his sister Maryetta. For some considerable time in the early 1960s he played Freddie in the stage production of ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...

'' at Drury Lane. In the United States, he is perhaps best known as the singing voice of

Josef Locke Joseph McLaughlin (23 March 1917 – 15 October 1999), known professionally as Josef Locke, was an Irish tenor. He was successful in the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s. Background Born in Derry, Ireland, he was the son of a ...

, who was played by Ned Beatty in the film ''

Hear My Song ''Hear My Song'' is a 1991 British comedy-drama film directed by Peter Chelsom, who co-wrote the screenplay with Adrian Dunbar, based on the story of Irish tenor Josef Locke. It was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 46th British Ac ...

''.Gritten (5 March 1992) Midgley is married to the New Zealand soprano Alexandra Gordon, with one son and one daughter. He teaches voice at the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Arts at Ara Institute of Canterbury, New Zealand. He is featured, with his sister Maryetta, on the song "Witness to a Murder (Part Two)" on Mansun's 1998 album ''Six''.

Discography

* Jerome Kern: ''Show Boat'', conducted by John McGlinn, EMI, 1988

References

Sources

*Gritten, David
"Locke Sings a Different Tune"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', 5 March 1992 *International Who's Who in Music and Musicians' Directory. 10th edition. Cambridge, England: International Who's Who in Music, 1984. * University of Canterbury
Faculty biography: Vernon Midgley
(accessed 28 January 2010)

External links

Vernon Midgley
at the University of Canterbury * English opera singers English tenors Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Living people Academic staff of the University of Canterbury 1940 births {{UK-opera-singer-stub