Thomas James Edmonds, (AM, BA, DipEd, DipT, MACE), is an Australian singer who was born in South Australia, Australia. He graduated from the University of Adelaide and the Adelaide Teachers College with a Diploma of Teaching and Education and a Bachelor of Arts Degree. In 1961 he became a foundation member of the staff of Westminster School in Marion, and in 1965, he was appointed Deputy Headmaster of the School.
Edmonds began his singing studies in Australia in 1960 and, in 1970, he continued both singing and education studies in England and Europe.
An internationally renowned opera singer, he has appeared in oratorios and many operas, including Mozart operas Don Giovanni (as "Don Ottavio"), and The Abduction From the Seraglio (as "Belmonte"), amongst others.
He also appeared in State Opera of South Australia production of the Gilbert and Sullivan opera " H.M.S. Pinafore " as Ralph Rackstraw, alongside Dennis Olsen and Judith Henley. The production was broadcast, throughout Australia, as a simultaneous television and stereo radio broadcast, by the ABC.
Edmonds has sung in opera at Covent Garden and the Edinburgh Festival and has appeared with the BBC as well as appearing in concert in the UK and Europe.
Edmonds won eight successive Showcase TV series Grand Finals (beginning with Showcase 68), in which he won both the judges' vote and the television viewers' vote).
Edmonds won the Shell Aria contest, run in conjunction with the 1969 Australian National Eisteddfod, Canberra after two years' contention as runner-up. [1]
Edmonds received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 1982 [2] and was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 1987 Queen's Birthday Honours. [3]
He was one of the judges at the 51st Adelaide Eisteddfod in April 2006.[ citation needed ]
Thomas Edmonds recordings with RCA includes:
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical theatre piece up to that time. H.M.S. Pinafore was Gilbert and Sullivan's fourth operatic collaboration and their first international sensation.
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; Italian:[ˌmɛddzosoˈpraːno]; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above (i.e. A3–A5 in scientific pitch notation, where middle C = C4; 220–880 Hz). In the lower and upper extremes, some mezzo-sopranos may extend down to the F below middle C (F3, 175 Hz) and as high as "high C" (C6, 1047 Hz). The mezzo-soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic.
Anthony Warlow is an Australian musical theatre performer, noted for his character acting and considerable vocal range. He is a classically trained lyric baritone and made his debut with the Australian Opera in 1980.
Gladys Moncrieff was an Australian singer who was so successful in musical theatre and recordings that she became known as 'Australia's Queen of Song' and 'Our Glad'.
Dennis Hans Olsen AM is an Australian singer, actor, director and pianist. His performances include opera, musical theatre, cabaret, radio, television and film. He is best known as an exponent of "patter" roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas and his performances of Noël Coward songs.
Judith Henley is an Australian opera singer. By July 2011 the soprano had performed more than 30 major roles both in Australia and internationally. According to Carolyn McDowall of The Culture Concept Circle she "has received critical acclaim for her portrayal of Violetta in La traviata, Mimi in La Boheme, and the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro. Judith also has an extensive concert repertoire... [which] ranges from Gilbert and Sullivan and operetta to musical comedy and the romantic heroines of Puccini and Verdi."
Helen Donaldson is an Australian operatic soprano, best known for her performances of the heroines in Gilbert and Sullivan operas.
Charles Donald Adams was an English opera singer and actor, best known for his performances in bass-baritone roles of the Savoy operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and his own company, Gilbert and Sullivan for All.
Helen Florence Roberts, later known as Betty Roberts and by her married name, Betty Walker, was an English singer and actress, best known for her performances in soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
Patricia Leonard was an English opera singer, best known for her performances in mezzo-soprano and contralto roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
A Song to Sing, O is a one-man musical play by Melvyn Morrow with songs by Gilbert and Sullivan and by George Grossmith, about the life of comedian and actor George Grossmith, who originated the principal comic roles for the most famous Savoy operas from 1877 through the 1880s. The plot concerns a fictional backstage interview given by Grossmith to an American reporter in 1889 during his last performance of The Yeomen of the Guard – indeed, his last performance for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. In between some interview gossip, Grossmith sings Gilbert and Sullivan songs, and some of his own songs to the reporter, and he enacts a scene from Grossmith's book, The Diary of a Nobody.
For nearly 150 years, Gilbert and Sullivan have pervasively influenced popular culture in the English-speaking world. Lines and quotations from the Gilbert and Sullivan operas have become part of the English language, such as "short, sharp shock", "What never? Well, hardly ever!", "let the punishment fit the crime", and "A policeman's lot is not a happy one".
Lamplighters Music Theatre is a semi-professional musical theatre company based in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1952 by Orva Hoskinson and Ann Pool MacNab, the Lamplighters specialize in light opera, particularly the works of Gilbert and Sullivan, as well as such works as The Merry Widow, Die Fledermaus, Of Thee I Sing, My Fair Lady, Candide, and A Little Night Music.
Pauline Wales was an English singer and actress best known for her performances in the mezzo-soprano roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
Antoinette Halloran is an Australian operatic soprano.
Richard Charles Watson was an Australian bass opera and concert singer and actor. He is probably best remembered for his performances and recordings of the comic bass-baritone roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, but he appeared in a wide range of operas at the Royal Opera House and with the Carl Rosa Opera Company with such singers as Lotte Lehmann and Lauritz Melchior, under conductors including Sir Thomas Beecham and Bruno Walter.
Thomas F. Lawlor was an Irish opera singer. In the 1960s, he became known for his performances in mostly baritone roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. In the 1970s and 1980s, he performed over 60 operatic roles, usually as a bass-baritone, with various British opera companies. He was also a director in the opera department of the Royal Academy of Music and at Trinity College of Music. In later years, he moved to the US, where he continued to perform, direct and teach.
Frederick Federici was an Italian-born British opera singer known for his work in the bass-baritone roles of the Savoy Operas written by Gilbert and Sullivan. He is also remembered as a reputed theatre ghost in Australia.
Mary Sansom was an English operatic soprano best known for her performances in principal soprano roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the 1950s and 1960s, including as Yum-Yum in The Mikado, Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore, Phyllis in Iolanthe, the title role in Patience and Gianetta in The Gondoliers. In later years, she performed with Gilbert and Sullivan for All, directed stage productions and established a costume hire business. She also appeared in supporting roles on British television.
The Shell Aria, originally Shell Open Aria, contest was an Australian vocal competition for young classical opera singers, held annually in Canberra from 1955 to 1986, named for and sponsored by, Shell Australia in conjunction with the Australian National Eisteddfod Society.