Gregorio Fiasconaro

Gregorio Fiasconaro was a bariton, opera director, film actor and the first director of the University of Cape Town's Opera School.

Born in Castelbuono, Sicily, and made his debut as a singer in the children's choir in La Bohéme. His career was interrupted when he became a pilot for Italy during World War II, and was shot down over East Africa and taken to South Africa as a prisoner of war. He married Mabel Marie, a South African woman from Pietermaritzburg, whom he had met while interred, and settled in Cape Town as a singer and teacher, where he was eventually appointed professor of music at the University of Cape Town. They had one son, Marcello Fiasconaro.

Among his many awards are a Nederburg-award for Opera in 1979 and a "Commendatore" from the Republic of Italy in 1984.

He died in Cape Town in 1994.

His sole film appearance was as "Mario" in the 1972 Emil Noval film The Winners (released in the USA as My Way, 1974)

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