Opera Scotland

Roy Henderson Suggest updates

Roy Galbraith Henderson.

Born Edinburgh, 4 July 1899.

Died Bromley, 16 March 2000.

Scottish baritone and teacher.

Roy Henderson grew up in Nottingham, then, after army service in the First World War, trained in London, at the Royal Academy of Music.

Henderson maintained a concert career and made his operatic debut at Covent Garden in 1928 as Donner in Das Rheingold. He sang Mozart roles in all the pre-war seasons at Glyndebourne (1934-39), including the opening night as Count Almaviva. He later added Guglielmo, Masetto and Papageno.

Henderson also had an extensive concert career, and Vaughan Williams included him among the sixteen solo singers for whom he composed his Serenade to Music in 1938, as a tribute to Sir Henry Wood.

He was a noted performer of other British music, including Delius (Sea Drift and A Mass of Life) and Vaughan Williams (Sea Symphony). He studied The Apostles with Elgar.

Henderson had a long career as a notable teacher, with a range of students including Kathleen Ferrier.

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