Sir Thomas Allen (7 October)
Co. Durham-born Sir Thomas Allen needs little introduction as one of the most renowned baritones of the past fifty years, both on the operatic and recital stages. As a pupil at Ryehope Grammar School he excelled in rugby, athletics and golf, becoming Head Boy and Captain of his house. It was his Physics Master Denis Weatherley, a well-known baritone in the area, who discovered young Tom’s singing voice, coaching him in school lunch breaks. An early ambition to be a doctor was put aside when in 1964 he won a scholarship to London’s Royal College of Music, studying with Hervey Alan and specialising in oratorio and Lieder. In 1968 he started to turn his attention to opera, singing the role of D’Obigny in Verdi’s La Traviata for Welsh National Opera. Since then, there is scarcely a major opera house in the world which hasn’t enjoyed his art, and the range of his repertoire on the concert platform has since run in parallel, as has a career in directing opera productions including Britten’s Albert Herring (Royal College of Music) Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Così fan Tutte (Samling at Sage Gateshead), The Marriage of Figaro (Arizona Opera) and Rossini’s The Barber of Seville (Scottish Opera). In 2012 he was appointed Chancellor of the University of Durham, from which he has stepped down after a distinguished decade in the post. Hobbies include golf – to which the writer of these words can attest, having watched him practise his swing between takes at many a recording session.
Proud of his Northumbrian roots, expect a recorded illustration of this at some point in the evening!