Introduction
Jeffrey Black (born 1962 in Brisbane, Queensland) is an Australian opera singer. He studied singing at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, and appeared in many of the operas staged by the Conservatorium students and post-graduate students, including appearing in the role of "Figaro", as a first year opera student, in the Conservatorium's 1981 production of The Marriage of Figaro, at the Basil Jones Theatre (now called the QUT Gardens Theatre).
Career
Black was educated at the Anglican Church Grammar School. He won the Marianne Mathy Scholarship in the Australian Singing Competition in 1983 and the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship in 1985.
He made his operatic debut as a principal singer with the Australian Opera in 1984. He made his debut in the United Kingdom at Glyndebourne in 1986.
Performances
Black has sung with the following opera companies:
- Royal Opera (London)
- Opéra Bastille (Paris)
- Glyndebourne Festival Opera
- Metropolitan Opera
- Salzburg Festival (Salzburg)
- Munich Opera
- Netherlands Opera
- De Vlaamse Opera
- Vlaamse Opera
- Bayerische Staatsoper (Munich)
- LA Opera
- Bastille Paris
- Aix-en-Provence
- Monte Carlo
- Washington National Opera
- Lyric Opera of Chicago
- San Francisco Opera
- San Diego
- Los Angeles Music Center
- Michigan Opera
- Teatro Colón Buenos Aires
- Opera North
Roles
Black's opera and operetta roles have included, among others, the following:
- La Cenerentola (as "Dandini")
- The Barber of Seville (as "Figaro")
- The Marriage of Figaro (as "Count Almaviva")
- Don Giovanni (as "Don Giovanni")
- Così fan tutte (as "Guglielmo")
- The Magic Flute (as "Papageno")
- Die Fledermaus (as "Dr. Falke")
- La bohème (as "Schaunard")
- Lucia di Lammermoor (as "Enrico")
- Falstaff (as "Ford")
- The Pirates of Penzance (as "the Pirate King")
- The Merry Widow (as "Danilo")
Personal life
He met his wife Janice on stage when playing Figaro in the Marriage of Figaro and his wife played Suzanna. They have a son James and daughter Tiffany. Black's son has diabetes, and he has been active in fundraising in support of his cause.