Opera Singer. He was born in Farnham in Surrey. He was educated at Lancing School in Sussex, at Hertford College in Oxford, where he was an organ scholar, and at the Royal College of Music. In 1936, he met Benjamin Britten ; the following year, they gave their first concert together (Pears singing, Britten on piano) at Balliol College in Oxford, to support the Government in the Spanish Civil War. From 1939 to 1942, the two men lived in the United States and in Canada. On their return, Peter Pears made his opera debut, in "The Tales of Hoffmann". He went on to take the principal tenor roles in all of Britten's operas. In 1946, they founded the English Opera Group and, the following year, they inaugurated the Aldeburgh Festival. They are buried next to each other in Aldeburgh churchyard, and Imogen Holst lies just behind them.
Opera Singer. He was born in Farnham in Surrey. He was educated at Lancing School in Sussex, at Hertford College in Oxford, where he was an organ scholar, and at the Royal College of Music. In 1936, he met Benjamin Britten ; the following year, they gave their first concert together (Pears singing, Britten on piano) at Balliol College in Oxford, to support the Government in the Spanish Civil War. From 1939 to 1942, the two men lived in the United States and in Canada. On their return, Peter Pears made his opera debut, in "The Tales of Hoffmann". He went on to take the principal tenor roles in all of Britten's operas. In 1946, they founded the English Opera Group and, the following year, they inaugurated the Aldeburgh Festival. They are buried next to each other in Aldeburgh churchyard, and Imogen Holst lies just behind them.
Bio by: Iain MacFarlaine
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