Joyce Barker
Joyce Barker (1931-1992) was an opera singer (soprano) and teacher.
Contents
Biography
Joyce Barker was born in Mooirivier, Natal in 1931 and started singing lessons in Durban under Daisy Holmes at the age of nineteen. She furthered her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London for three years. Since 1954 she sang at Sadler’s Wells and Covent Garden in operas by Wagner, Verdi and Boito, among others. From 1955 to 1959 she continued her studies with, among others, Maria Hittorff in Vienna and Eduardo Pedrazolli in Italy who coached her in the Italian opera repertoire for four years.
In 1963 she returned to South Africa and made name for herself as soloist in radio broadcasts and in concerts for all four Arts Councils. While based in South Africa in the sixties and seventies, Barker continued her international career, singing, among others, at the New York City Opera and in Strasbourg.
Apart from her singing commitments, she lectured part time at the Wits University Opera School.
She died in 1992.
Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance
Her repertoire included operas such as Nabucco, Il trovatore, Macbeth, Don Carlos, Il tabarro, Aida, Un ballo in maschera, Tosca, Don Giovanni and Cavalleria rusticana.
In 1988, she was voice coach for the School of Music of the University of the Witwatersrand's production of Der Zigeunerbaron, and in 1991 for their production of The Gondoliers.
Sources
Alexandra Xenia Sabina Mossolow[1]. 2003. The career of South African soprano Nellie du Toit, born 1929. Unpublished Masters thesis. University of Stellenbosch.[2]
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