{{Short description|Filipina soprano (1940–2016)}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Eleanor Calbes | image = Eleanor_Calbes.jpg | image_size = | landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank --> | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1940|02|20}} | birth_place = Aparri, Philippines | death_date = {{Death date and age|2016|04|19|1940|02|20}} | occupation = soprano }}
thumb|Eleanor Calbes with Prince Philip '''Eleanor Calbes''' (20 February 1940 – 19 April 2016) was a Filipino soprano. Calbes performed globally until retiring in September 2012. She was inducted into the Mississauga Music Walk of Fame in 2013.
==Early life and education== Calbes was born in Aparri, Cagayan in the Philippines. In 1961, she completed a diploma in education.<ref name=Litwack>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Litwack |first=Linda |title=Eleanor Calbes |encyclopedia=Canadian Encyclopedia |date=30 July 2007 |url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/eleanor-calbes-emc/|accessdate=15 March 2018}}</ref> Calbes was also awarded a scholarship with The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wilson|first1=Earl|title=BC Discovery Opens At Lincoln Centre|work=Ottawa Citizen|date=24 June 1967|page=16}}</ref>
==Career== Calbes began her opera career with the Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company before performing with the Canadian Opera Company from 1963 to 1967 and becoming a Canadian citizen. Outside of Canada, Calbes sang in various parts of the world including the United States, Germany and the Philippines.<ref name=Litwack/> During her career, she appeared on and Off-Broadway. She played the role of Liat in the 1965 Off-Broadway revival of ''South Pacific'' at New York City Center, and the 1967 Off-Broadway revival at New York State Theatre. She played Tuptim in the 1968 Off-Broadway revival of ''The King and I'' at New York City Center. She made her Broadway debut<ref>{{Cite web |title=Eleanor Calbes – Broadway Cast & Staff {{!}} IBDB |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/eleanor-calbes-103381 |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=www.ibdb.com}}</ref> in 1970 in ''Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen'' in the role of Lotus Blossom.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen – Broadway Musical – Original {{!}} IBDB |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/lovely-ladies-kind-gentlemen-3574 |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=www.ibdb.com}}</ref> She is often erroneously cited<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-10-28 |title=Canada-based soprano Eleanor Calbes performs series of last curtain calls |url=https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/73618/canada-based-soprano-eleanor-calbes-performs-series-of-last-curtain-calls/ |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=Lifestyle.INQ |language=en-US}}</ref> as the first woman from the Philippines to appear on Broadway, however, this is not true. Neile Adams, born in Manila, appeared in the original Broadway productions of ''Kismet'' and ''The Pajama Game'' in the 1950s;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Neile Adams – Broadway Cast & Staff {{!}} IBDB |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/neile-adams-101657 |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=www.ibdb.com}}</ref> Jacqueline Awad appeared in the late 1960s Broadway engagement of the National Theatre of the Deaf. Calbes ended her singing career in 2012.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tariman|first1=Pablo A.|title=Canada-based soprano Eleanor Calbes performs series of last curtain calls|url=http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/73618/canada-based-soprano-eleanor-calbes-performs-series-of-last-curtain-calls| accessdate=16 March 2018|work=Philippine Daily Inquirer|date=29 October 2012}}</ref>
Apart from singing, Calbes began directing musicals in 1983 with a production of ''The King and I'' and started Mississauga City Centre Opera in 1985.<ref name=Litwack/> Calbes also opened studios in dance and singing in Mississauga.<ref name=Clay2016/>
==Personal life and death== Calbes was married twice. She had a child, actress and producer Lara Wickes with author David A.B. Wickes. The couple divorced and Eleanor married a fellow Canadian opera singer, John Davidson Thomson. <ref name=Clay2016>{{cite news|last1=Clay |first1=Chris|title=Eleanor Calbes’ legacy lives on in Mississauga|work=Mississauga News |url=https://www.mississauga.com/whatson-story/6515398-eleanor-calbes-legacy-lives-on-in-mississauga/|accessdate=15 March 2018|date=26 April 2016}}</ref>
She died at the age of 76 from cancer.<ref>{{cite news|title=Eleanor Calbes Thomson, Feb. 20, 1940 – April 19, 2016|url=http://philippinereporter.com/2016/05/13/eleanor-calbes-thomson-feb-20-1940-april-19-2016/|accessdate=17 March 2018|work=The Philippine Reporter|date=13 May 2016}}</ref><ref name=Clay2016/>
==Awards and honors== In 1996, Calbes was chosen as the best musician of the year for Mississauga.<ref name=Litwack/> In 2013, Calbes was inducted into the Mississauga Music Walk of Fame.<ref>{{cite web |title=2013 Inductees|url=https://www.musicwalkoffame.ca/|website=MISSISSAUGA MUSIC WALK OF FAME|accessdate=15 March 2018}}</ref> The following year, she won the Laurie Pallett Patron of the Arts award at the 2014 Mississauga Arts Awards.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Clay |first1=Chris|title=Arts awards celebrate Mississauga’s best|url=https://www.mississauga.com/whatson-story/4511150-arts-awards-celebrate-mississauga-s-best/|accessdate=17 March 2018 |work=Mississauga News|date=9 May 2014}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Calbes, Eleanor}} Category:1940 births Category:2016 deaths Category:Filipino sopranos Category:Canadian sopranos