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Richard Charles Margison
Richard Margison photographed in Montréal, Québec, Canada at the Serge-Garant Hall of Université de Montréal.
Born	(1953-07-16) 16 July 1953 (age 65) Victoria, British Columbia
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	Dramatic tenor
Known for	Operatic tenor
Awards	Order of Canada

Richard Charles Margison, OC (born 16 July 1953) is a Canadian operatic tenor. Margison was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2001 and lives in Stouffville, Ontario, Canada.

Biography

Margison is an Officer of the Order of Canada, the recipient of three honorary doctorates (McMaster University, University of Victoria, and University of British Columbia), two lifetime achievement awards (Giulio Gari Foundation, Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation), and the Royal Conservatory of Music's Honorary Fellowship. Margison has performed as a principal artist in opera houses including fifteen consecutive years at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Vienna Staatsoper, San Francisco Opera, Opera Australia (Sydney Opera House), the Liceu (Barcelona), La Monnaie (Brussels), Opera de Montreal, Opera de Quebec, Vancouver Opera, Calgary Opera, Manitoba Opera, Edmonton Opera, and the Canadian Opera Company, where he most recently^[when?] performed the role of Herod in Salome.

Margison has been devoting more time to his passion for teaching, helping the next generation of artists within his industry, and giving back to the community at large.

Performance highlights

Since 2013, Margison has been performing regularly across Canada with his daughter, Lauren Margison, also a singer, in their duo act, 'Back to Back'. Margison and his daughter turn their combined talents to classical arias, art song, Neapolitan love songs, jazz, pop, and a little Gordon Lightfoot.

He has performed in Electra (Aegisthus), with Michigan Opera Theatre. In October, 2015, Margison was featured as the title role of 'Abraham' in the world premiere of an important new, multi-cultural and multi-denominational oratorio written and conducted by Canadian composer and music theatre legend, David Warrack, and performed at Metropolitan United Church in Toronto.

Margison has performed as Herod in Salome (Canadian Opera Company), Turiddu and Canio in Cavalleria Rusticana/I Pagliacci (Edmonton Opera), and his signature roles of Calaf, in Puccini's Turandot (Opera Lyra Ottawa), Manrico in Verdi's Il Trovatore (L'Opera de Quebec), Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca (Manitoba Opera), and Bacchus in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos (Canadian Opera Company). Concert appearances included Mahler's, “Das Lied von der Erde”, with the Victoria Symphony, Mahler's Symphony No. 8, with the Toronto Symphony, and a 15-concert solo recital tour of British Columbia with acclaimed pianist, Kinza Tyrell. Margison had his debut performance in the new Four Seasons' Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto with the National Ballet of Canada, performing Mahler's, 'Das Lied von der Erde' with the company.

Highlights from previous seasons include performances as Bacchus in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos at the Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo, Spain, the reprise of his celebrated role as O'Brien in Lorin Maazel's 1984 in Valencia, Spain, Radamès in Verdi's Aida at the Metropolitan Opera, as Pollione in Bellini's Norma with the Vancouver Opera, and in a series of concerts for Arizona Opera.

Other highlights include Margison's debut as Aegisthus in Strauss's Elektra with the Seattle Opera and the New York Philharmonic, his debut at Milan's famed La Scala as O'Brien in Lorin Maazel's 1984, a role he originated at the ROH Covent Garden in 2005, recently released on DVD. Renowned for his interpretations of Verdi, Puccini, Strauss and Beethoven, recent seasons have featured performances of Un Ballo in Maschera (l'Opéra de Montréal, Hamburg, the ROH Covent Garden), Turandot (New York, Barcelona, Toronto), Aida (New York, Cincinnati, l'Opéra de Montréal, Chicago, Orviedo), Ariadne auf Naxos (Madrid, London, Hamburg, New York), Fidelio (Seattle, Vancouver), Il Trovatore (New York, Toronto, Berlin, San Francisco), La Gioconda (Barcelona) and Don Carlo (New York).

Margison has appeared with the Royal Philharmonic in London, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and at the Ravinia Festival. He has also performed with Bryn Terfel at his opera gala at the Faenol Festival in Wales.

Recordings

Margison's discography includes an all-Verdi recording on CBC Records and the highly acclaimed recording of Beethoven's Fidelio with Christine Brewer on Chandos. He has also recorded Lanza (Warner Music), made for the film on the life of Mario Lanza, in which he sings the title role. Other recordings include Verdi's Don Carlo with the Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus under the direction of Bernard Haitink (Philips) and Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Neeme Järvi (Deutsche Grammophon). He made three recordings with the late Richard Bradshaw and the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra: a solo album of French and Italian Arias (CBC Records), Rarities by Rossini and Verdi, with Gary Relyea (CBC Records) and Aria, une sélection de Radio-Canada with Anita Krause, Wendy Nielson and Gary Relyea (CBC Records). Margison is also a featured artist on the Millennium Opera Gala recording released by CBC Records.

Margison's DVD recordings include his highly acclaimed appearance as Bacchus in the Metropolitan Opera production of Ariadne auf Naxos with Deborah Voigt and Natalie Dessay (Virgin Classics), his roles as Cavaradossi in Tosca and as O'Brien in Lorin Maazel's 1984, and as Enzo in Ponchielli's La Gioconda.

Folk-singing opera star

Margison's career began in the coffee houses and clubs of Victoria, BC, where he performed with his own rock band for ten years. He made his debut in 1980 with Pacific Opera Victoria. In January 2010, Bravo! presented a documentary (Harbinger Films) on Margison called the 'Folk-Singing Opera Star'. Now available on DVD, the documentary features him in a musical collaboration with Bruce Cockburn, in major performances and in discussion about his life and career.

Highlands Opera Studio

In the summer of 2007, Margison and opera director Valerie Kuinka, founded the Highlands Opera Studio, a training program for emerging operatic professionals, which provides training for 20 to 25 singers and 1 collaborative pianist, between the ages of 19 and 35, chosen through competitive audition from across Canada.

Honours and benefit work

Margison has given of his talent at benefits in Chicago, for the Metropolitan Opera, Leukaemia Research (Ontario), LOFT Community housing (Toronto), the Children's Opera Chorus (Toronto), the Royal Conservatory of Music, and many others. He has been particularly active in his former home province of British Columbia, where he has raised more than two million dollars through benefit concerts including Victoria Symphony, Pacific Opera Victoria, the Victoria Conservatory of Music, Vancouver Symphony, Vancouver Opera and the Rotary Club.

Margison was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2001 not only in honour of his contribution to musical life in Canada but in recognition of his accomplishments on the international stage. In 2002 Margison received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal. Margison received and Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Conservatory of Music as well as being inducted into the Canadian Opera Hall of Fame. In October 2007, Margison was awarded an Opera Canada Ruby Award. In October 2009 he received Lifetime Achievement Awards from both The Giulio Gari Foundation and The Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation. In 2012 he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his service to Canada. Margison also holds honorary doctorates from the University of Victoria (DMus), University of British Columbia (D.Litt) and McMaster University (D.Litt).

An Ontario resident for twenty-six years, Margison splits his time between his homes in Stouffville and Minden with his wife, opera director Valerie Kuinka, and his daughter, Lauren Margison.

References

External links

• Official website


• 
  Richard Margison at The Canadian Encyclopedia