{{short description|Welsh opera singer}} {{EngvarB|date=September 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox person | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = Patricia Kern | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1927|7|14}} | birth_place = Swansea, Wales | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2015|10|19|1927|7|14}} | death_place = Toronto, Ontario | occupation = mezzo-soprano and voice teacher | spouse = David Smukler | parents = Clifford James Kern, Doris Hilday (née Boyle) | children = Nadya Smukler-Lawson }} '''Patricia Kern''' (14 July 1927{{spaced ndash}}19 October 2015) was a British mezzo-soprano and voice teacher.
==Early years== Patricia Kern was born in Swansea, Wales, the only daughter of a master shipwright, Clifford James Kern, and Doris Hilday (née Boyle). Patricia started her music career as a child star in cabarets and concerts at the age of five, wearing top hats and tails. During the Great Depression, Patricia became the family's chief breadwinner when her father lost his job.<ref name=G&M-2015-11-18 />
==Singing career== From 1949 to 1952, Kern studied with Gwynn Parry Jones at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. She began her career with Opera for All (1952–1955). In 1959, Kern joined Sadler's Wells, making her début in ''Rusalka'', and remained as a member of the company for ten seasons. She was noted for interpretations of ''La Cenerentola'', Rosina (''The Barber of Seville''), Isolier (''Le comte Ory'') and Isabella (''L'italiana in Algeri'').<ref name=G&M-2015-11-18 /> Her other roles included ''Iolanthe'', Hänsel, Cherubino, Pippo, and Josephine in the premiere of Malcolm Williamson's ''The Violins of Saint-Jacques'' (1966). She made her Covent Garden debut in 1967 as Zerlina.<ref name=SM-2015-10-23 /> Her American début was at Washington, D.C., in 1969 and in 1987 she sang Marcellina in Chicago.<ref name=SM-2015-10-23/><ref name=G&M-2015-11-18 /> In the early part of her career she was a noted oratorio singer – especially Handel.<ref name=SM-2015-10-23 />
Kern made her debut with Scottish Opera in 1969 in Rossini's La Cenerentola, a production by Colin Graham whose cast included the baritone Ian Wallace.<ref name=SM-2015-10-23 /> She made her Canadian Opera Company debut in 1973 in Rossini's The Barber of Seville. This was followed by Claudio Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea, in 1983, and Benjamin Britten's Albert Herring, in 1991.<ref name=G&M-2015-11-18 />
Kern's voice was light but crystal clear with a fine capacity, especially for coloratura roles and arias. Kern once remarked:
: "I really was a contralto. I started to exercise the voice a little more floridly, and the voice really started to travel up very easily. As a result, most of my time was spent in the higher, lighter mezzo range."<ref name=SM-2015-10-23 />
Kern's stage personality was described as 'engaging and sympathetic'.<ref>Alan Blyth, ''Patricia Kern'', Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press 2007</ref>
She made several recordings, including Massenet's ''Manon'' (1990) and Monteverdi's ''Madrigals'' (1998).
==Teaching career== In 1980, Kern was appointed adjunct professor of voice at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Music, where she taught for more than 20 years. Her pupils included James Westman, Russell Braun, Brett Polegato, Jean Stilwell, and Kimberly Barber<ref name=G&M-2015-11-18 /> as well as Phillip Addis<ref>{{Cite web |title=Phillip Addis & Michèle Losier : Werther & Charlotte |url=http://www.scena.org/lsm/sm16-4/sm16-4_werther_en.html |access-date=2023-11-12 |website=scena.org}}</ref> and Peter McGillivray<ref>{{Cite web |title=UofT Opera {{!}} Peter McGillivray, UofT Opera Alumni returning to star as Frank Maurrant in Street Scene |url=https://uoftopera.ca/2018/11/06/peter-mcgillivray-uoft-opera-alumni/ |access-date=2023-11-12 |language=en-CA}}</ref>
==Death== Kern died at a palliative care facility in Toronto on 19 October 2015 at the age of 88.<ref name=G&M-2015-11-18>{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/theatre-and-performance/gifted-mezzo-soprano-patricia-kern-became-an-exacting-teacher/article27336006/ |title=Gifted mezzo-soprano Patricia Kern became an exacting teacher |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |author=Neil Crory |date=18 November 2015 |accessdate=2015-11-21}}</ref><ref name=SM-2015-10-23>{{cite news |url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-patricia-kern-mezzo-soprano-1-3926331 |title=Obituary: Patricia Kern, mezzo soprano |newspaper=The Scotsman |author=Alasdair Stevens |date=23 October 2015 |accessdate=2015-11-21}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.bruceduffie.com/kern.html Interview with Patricia Kern] by Bruce Duffie, 5 November 1987 *[https://patriciakern.com/music/ List of recordings by Patricia Kern]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kern, Patricia}} Category:1927 births Category:2015 deaths Category:British operatic mezzo-sopranos Category:Welsh mezzo-sopranos Category:20th-century Welsh women opera singers Category:Musicians from Swansea Category:Academic staff of the University of Toronto Category:Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama