{{Short description|Australian opera singer (born 1962)}} {{For|other people named Jeff Black|Jeff Black (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2015}} thumb|Jeffrey Black, 2004 '''Jeffrey Black''' (born 6 September 1962) is an Australian baritone who has had an active international performance career since the early 1980s.<ref name="GS">{{cite book|chapter=Black, Jeffrey|pages=433–434|author1-last=Kutsch|author1-first=Karl-Josef|author1-link=Karl-Josef Kutsch|author2-last=Riemens|author2-first=Leo|author2-link=Leo Riemens|editor-last=Rost|editor-first=Hansjörg|title=Großes Sängerlexikon|volume=4|edition=4th|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|year=2012|orig-year=2003|language=de|isbn=9783598440885}}</ref> A frequent performer with Opera Australia and the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, he has performed leading role with the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra Bastille, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Bavarian State Opera, and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, among other opera houses. He is particularly known for his portrayals of Guglielmo in Mozart's ''Così fan tutte'', Count Almaviva in Mozart's ''The Marriage of Figaro'', and Figaro in Rossini's ''The Barber of Seville''.
==Early life and education== Born in Brisbane, Black was educated at the Anglican Church Grammar School.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mason|first=James|title=Churchie: The Centenary Register|year=2011|publisher=Anglican Church Grammar School|location=Brisbane, Australia|isbn=978-0-646-55807-3}}</ref> In his youth he was a boy soprano in the choir at the Cathedral of St Stephen, Brisbane, for several years.<ref name="CT">{{cite news|title=Young star is rising in the opera|work=The Canberra Times|date=14 April 1990|page=21}}</ref> He studied singing at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music where graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1983.<ref name="CT"/> At the Conservatorium he participated in opera workshops led by tenor Donald Smith whose influence oriented his career towards opera.<ref name="CT"/>
In 1983 Black won the Marianne Mathy Scholarship in the Australian Singing Competition which enabled him to pursue further vocal training at the National Opera Studio in London in 1984.<ref name="CT"/> In 1985 he was awarded the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship. He later pursued further vocal training with Audrey Langford and Jane Chapman in London.<ref name="GS"/>
==Performance career== Black began his professional career in the early 1980s as a concert baritone.<ref name="GS"/> He made his debut as a principal singer with the Opera Australia (OA) in 1984 as a featured soloist in a concert of works by Jean-Philippe Rameau at the Sydney Opera House.<ref>{{cite news|title=Philharmonia Presents An Evening of Rameau|work=The Australian Jewish Times|date=20 September 1984|page=13}}</ref> His first role in an opera with the OA was in 1985 as Mercutio in Charles Gounod's ''Roméo et Juliette''.<ref>{{cite news|work=The Australian Jewish Times|date=20 June 1985|page=12|title=Opera: Not star crossed — but double crossed|author=Canto}}</ref> He notably performed the role of Nevers in ''Les Huguenots'' with OA in 1990 for the farewell performance of Joan Sutherland as Marguerite de Valois.<ref name="GS"/> He also performed and recorded the roles of Nerone and Ottone, both transposed down an octave from the original score, in Claudio Monteverdi's ''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' with the AO in 1988.<ref>{{cite news|work=The Australian Jewish Times|date=4 March 1988|page= 27|title=Excessive ''Poppea''}}</ref>
Black performed regularly at the Sydney Opera House with the OA for twenty years. His roles with that company included Papageno in Mozart's ''The Magic Flute'' (1986),<ref name="GS"/> Schaunard in Giacomo Puccini's ''La bohème'' (1986),<ref name="GS"/> Dr. Falke in ''Die Fledermaus'' (1986),<ref>{{cite news|title=''Fledermaus'' Falls Flat|work=The Australian Jewish Times|page=20|date= 9 October 1986}}</ref> Dandini in Rossini's ''La Cenerentola'' (1987),<ref>{{cite news|title=One-off grant 'saves' summer opera|work=The Australian Jewish Times|date=11 September 1986|page=24}}</ref> Figaro in ''The Barber of Seville'' (1989),<ref name="GS"/> Guglielmo in ''Così fan tutte'' (1990),<ref name="GS"/> Enrico in Donizetti's ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' (1996 and 2003),<ref name="GS"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/lucia-di-lammermoor-opera-australia-20030117-gdg4bq.html|title=''Lucia di Lammermoor'', Opera Australia|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=17 January 2003}}</ref> the title role of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ''Eugene Onegin'' (1997),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-146364699/view|title=Australian Opera performance of ''Eugene Onegin'', Jeffrey Black as Onegin with Tatyana in the garden, September 1997|type=photograph|last=McMurdo|first=Don|publisher=National Library of Australia|year=1997|via=Trove}}</ref> Wolfram in Richard Wagner's ''Tannhäuser'' (1998)<ref>{{cite journal|author=Rodney Milnes|journal=Opera|volume=49|page=678|title=Opera Australia, ''Tannhäuser''|year=1998}}</ref> Rodrigo in Verdi's ''Don Carlo'' (1999),<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.afr.com/politics/conduct-most-becoming-19990807-k8xm3|title=Conduct Most Becoming|work=Australian Financial Review|author=Carmel Dwyer|date=7 August 1999}}</ref> the Count in Richard Strauss's ''Capriccio'' (2000),<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/white-knight-enters-stage-right-20000408-k9dgh|title=White knight enters stage right|author=Susan Owens|date=8 April 2000|work=Australian Financial Review}}</ref> Belcore in ''L'elisir d'amore'' (2001),<ref>{{cite news|title=Opera Australia: ''L'Elisir d'amore'' by Donizetti|work=Australian Financial Review|date=22 April 2001|author= Chris Boyd}}</ref> Count Almaviva in ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (2002),<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.afr.com/politics/the-magic-of-figaro-20020202-k1cqq|work=Australian Financial Review|title=The magic of ''Figaro''|author=Chris Boyd|date=2 February 2002}}</ref> and Danilo in ''The Merry Widow'' (2004).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/widow-takes-turn-for-the-better-20041110-gdyykj.html|title=''Widow'' takes turn for the better|work=The Age|date=10 November 2004}}</ref> In 1991 he had a critical triumph with the OA in the title role of Mozart's ''Don Giovanni'';<ref name="GS"/> later reprising the role with the company in 2003.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/hard-dig-at-dinnigan-20030317-gdgfs2.html|title=Costume a Show Stopper|date=17 January 2003|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref>
In 1986 Black made his first appearance in the United Kingdom with the Glyndebourne Festival Opera (GFO).<ref name="Mathy">[https://web.archive.org/web/20060116095631/http://www.aussing.com.au/Mathy_Past_Winners/Jeffrey_Black.htm Jeffrey Black – winner of the Mathy Award in 1983]</ref> He returned to the GFO numerous times, portraying such roles as Demetrius in Benjamin Britten's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1989), the Count in Richard Strauss's ''Capriccio'' (1990), and Count Almaviva in ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (1991).<ref name="GS"/> In 1987 he made his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Harlequin in Richard Strauss's ''Ariadne auf Naxos'', and appeared at the Opera Queensland in Brisbane as Dandini in Rossini's ''La Cenerentola''.<ref name="GS"/> He returned to Covent Garden as Sid in Britten's ''Albert Herring'' (1989), Figaro in Rossini's ''The Barber of Seville'' (1990), and Dandini in Rossini's ''La Cenerentola'' (1991).<ref name="GS"/>
Black made his first appearance in the United States as Guglielmo in ''Così fan tutte'' with the Los Angeles Opera in 1988; a role which he repeated at the Lyric Opera of Chicago (1993), the Salzburg Festival (1993), and the Aix-en-Provence Festival.<ref name="GS"/> In 1991 he made his debut at the Opéra Bastille in Paris as Lescaut in Puccini's ''Manon Lescaut''.<ref name="GS"/> In 1992 he portrayed the Pirate King in Gilbert and Sullivan's ''The Pirates of Penzance'' with the Victoria State Opera.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://victoriastateopera.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/victoria-state-opera-pirates-of-penzance-1992/|title=Victoria State Opera – ''Pirates of Penzance'' 1992|work=Victoria State Opera Archives|access-date=1 October 2022}}</ref> He performed the role of Fieramosca in Berlioz's ''Benvenuto Cellini'' at the Grand Théâtre de Genève in 1992, and returned there in 1995 as Riccardo in Bellini's ''I puritani''.<ref name="GS"/>
In 1995 Black made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City as Figaro in ''The Barber of Seville''; a role which he has also performed with the San Francisco Opera (1992), the San Diego Opera (1993), and the Bavarian State Opera (1995).<ref name="GS"/> In 1994 he returned to the San Diego Opera in the title role of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ''Eugene Onegin'', appeared in Los Angeles as Marcello in ''La bohème''', and performed the role of Demetrius in Britten's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' with the Israeli Opera.<ref name="GS"/>
In 2000 Black made his debut with the Michigan Opera Theatre as Captain Balstrode in Benjamin Britten's ''Peter Grimes''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.metrotimes.com/arts/oceanic-reveries-2172340|title=Oceanic reveries|date=7 June 2000|work=Detroit Metro Times}}</ref> In 2004 he portrayed Escamillo in Opera Queensland's production of Georges Bizet's ''Carmen'' with Yvonne Fontane in the tile role.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://stagediary.com/review/2004/05/carmen-3/|title=''Carmen'' (Opera Queensland)|work=Stage Diary|author=John Henningham|date=14 May 2004}}</ref> In 2005 he performed the role of Danilo in a staging celebrating the 100th anniversary of ''The Merry Widow'' with the Welsh National Opera.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2005/oct/05/classicalmusicandopera1|title=''The Merry Widow'', Millennium Centre, Cardiff|author=Rian Evans|date= 5 October 2005|work=The Guardian}}</ref>
In 2009 Black sang the title role in a concert version of Verdi's ''Simon Boccanegra'' with the Chelsea Opera Group at Queen Elizabeth Hall.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/classical-opera/article/simon-boccanegra-at-queen-elizabeth-hall-se1-zkt5llh0nqn|title=''Simon Boccanegra'' at Queen Elizabeth Hall, SE1|work=The Times|author=Geoff Brown|date=9 June 2009}}</ref> That same year he performed the role of Frank in ''Die Fledermaus'' with the London Lyric Opera.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.classicalsource.com/concert/london-lyric-opera-die-fledermaus/|title=London Lyric Opera – ''Die Fledermaus''|author=Peter Reed|date=16 June 2009|work=Classical Source}}</ref> In 2010 he portrayed Gianciotto in Riccardo Zandonai's ''Francesca da Rimini'' with Opera Holland Park.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/aug/04/francesca-da-rimini-review|title=''Francesca da Rimini'', Holland Park, London|work=The Guardian|author=Tim Ashley|date=4 August 2010}}</ref>
Black has also performed in operas with the Dutch National Opera, Vlaamse Opera, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Washington National Opera, Teatro Colón, and Opera North. His stage repertoire also included the role of Ford in ''Falstaff''.<ref name="Mathy"/>
==Personal life== Black's son has diabetes, and he has been active in fundraising in support of this cause.<ref>{{cite web|title=Singing with diabetes in mind |url=http://www.worlddiabetesfoundation.org/composite-1339.htm |work=article |publisher=World Diabetes Foundation |access-date=2012-05-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509113138/http://www.worlddiabetesfoundation.org/composite-1339.htm |archive-date= 9 May 2012 }}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=0085329|name=Jeffrey Black}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060820085454/http://www.gu.edu.au/school/qcgu/alumni/content_alumni.html#black "Jeffrey Black"] – Queensland Conservatorium alumni
{{Portal bar|Biography|Opera}} {{Authority control|state=collapsed}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Jeffrey}} Category:1962 births Category:Living people Category:Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University alumni Category:Musicians from Brisbane Category:Australian operatic baritones Category:People educated at Anglican Church Grammar School