Mitchinson, John (Leslie)
Mitchinson, John (Leslie)
Mitchinson, John (Leslie), English tenor and educator; b. Blackrod, Lancashire, March 31, 1932. He studied at the Royal Manchester Coll. of Music (graduated, 1955). In 1953 he became a founding member of the BBC Northern Singers. After singing in a concert performance of Don Giovanni with the Chelsea Opera Group in 1955, he made his stage debut as Jupiter in Handel’s Semeie with the Handel Opera Soc. He sang with the Sadler’s Wells Opera (1972–74), and its successor, the English National Opera (1974–78) in London, and then with the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff (1978–82). From 1987 to 1992 he was senior lecturer at the Royal Northern Coll. of Music in Manchester, and then was head of vocal studies at the Welsh Coll. of Music and Drama in Cardiff from 1992. Among his operatic roles, he won particular success as Florestan, Tristan, and Peter Grimes. He was especially well known for his appearances as a soloist with the principal British orchs.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire