Cooke, Tom (actually, Thomas Simpson)
Cooke, Tom (actually, Thomas Simpson)
Cooke, Tom (actually, Thomas Simpson) , Irish tenor, instrumentalist, and composer; b. Dublin, 1782; d. London, Feb. 26, 1848. He studied with his father, the oboist Bartlett Cooke, and appeared in public playing a violin concerto when he was seven. He then studied with Giordani. At age 15, he became concert-master of Dublin’s Crow Street Theatre orch. He also ran a music shop (1806–12). In 1813 he settled in London, where he became a dominant figure at the Drury Lane Theatre as a singer, concertmaster, versatile instrumentalist (on some nine instruments), manager, and composer. He also taught voice. Cooke composed many stage pieces. He also wrote the treatises Singing Exemplified in a Series of Solfeggi and Singing in Parts (London, 1842).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire