William Jacob Morton (27 September 1912 – 10 February 1995) was a Canadian

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, 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 lo ...

, opera director, and voice teacher born in Deloraine,

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. He first studied singing with Alicia Birkett in Regina, and later with Albert Whitehead and James Rosselino in Toronto. He made his professional singing debut in 1932 and made his debut radio broadcast in 1933 on CKCK. He was a regular on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

from the mid-1930s through the 1950s and was also one of the leading tenors of the CBC Opera Company during the 1940s. With the CBC he notably performed the title role in the Canadian premiere of

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

's ''

Peter Grimes ''Peter Grimes'', Op. 33, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto by Montagu Slater based on the section "Peter Grimes", in George Crabbe's long narrative poem '' The Borough''. The "borough" of the opera is a fictional ...

'' in 1949. From 1942 to 1951 he was a member of the CBC vocal quartet the Four Gentlemen which were a main feature of the radio program 'Carry On Canada'. In the 1950s he moved to Vancouver and was offered tenure by UBC but rejected. Later in the 50s he founded the

Vancouver Opera Vancouver Opera is the second largest performing arts organization in British Columbia and the largest opera company in western Canada. Its mainstage performances occur in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, other venues in Vancouver and occasionally els ...

Society. He died in February 1995 at the age of 82.

References

1912 births 1995 deaths 20th-century Canadian male opera singers Canadian centenarians Canadian operatic tenors Musicians from Manitoba People from Deloraine, Manitoba Voice teachers Men centenarians {{Canada-singer-stub