Bio
Jeffrey Black, born and educated in Brisbane, made his operatic debut with the Australian Opera in 1984 at the age of 20, after winning the Australian Singing Competition (ASC). He subsequently sang major roles for the company for over twenty years. And first came to international prominence in London as the youngest finalist in the Inaugural Walther Grüner Lieder Competition.
Since making his International operatic debut at Glyndebourne in 1986 he has performed many of the prima cavalier lyric baritone roles in the major Opera Houses of the world; The Metropolitan – New York, Royal Opera House – Covent Garden, London, Glyndebourne, Bastille – Paris, Munich, Chicago and the Salzburg Festival. He has interpreted the roles of Mozart & Rossini to great critical acclaim - The Count (Le Nozze di Figaro – with Bryn Terfel and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa ), The Don (Don Giovanni), Figaro (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Dandini (La Cenerentola). Other roles include Eugene Onegin (with Renee Fleming), Posa, Pere Germont, Ford and Wolfram.
On the concert platform he has performed with Sir Charles Mackerras, Zubin Mehta, Franz Welser Möst, Eka Pakka Saraste, Simone Young and in recital with Geoffrey Parsons, Graham Johnson, Simone Young, Leslie Howard & Piers Lane. More recently Jeffrey has moved into the heavier Italian operatic repertoire including role debuts as Rigoletto & Scarpia. made his role debut as Boccanegra In Verdi’s original 1857 version at Queen Elizabeth Hall in a gala performance for the Chelsea Opera Group. He made his role debut as Gianciotto in Opera Holland Park’s (UK) performances of Francesca da Rimini.
During lockdown,in 2020, Jeffrey had a chance to return to the Lieder repertoire he loves as well as finding many live recordings of both lieder and opera performances which are now available on youtube. He and the pianist Roger Cui recorded and live-streamed bite-size concerts ‘Songs for Sunday’ at the beautiful St Mary’s church on the cliffs of Kangaroo Point in Brisbane, Australia.
In 2021 he was able to perform the role of Joseph Banks in the world premiere of ‘The Cooktown Cantata’ – a new one act opera conceived by writer/director Jan Black to mark the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook’s 48-day stay in 1770 to repair damage to his ship ‘The Endeavour’ in what is now Cooktown in far North Queensland. This innovative and inclusive composition celebrated the life of the well-oved Cooktown resident and Australian/English botanical artist, Vera Scarth-Johnson, the English naturalist on the Endeavour, Joseph Banks and the indigenous Cooktown Elder and Artist, Tulo Gordon. (played by his nephew, the singer/songwriter, Derek Rosendale). The work was conceived by the writer/director and former North Queensland resident, Jan Black. The libretto is based on 13 poems by Jan Black, Gaynor Hooper and indigenous composers Derek Rosendale and Dora Gibson. Performed in the Cooktown historic botanical gardens to critical acclaim for the 2020 (in 2021) Cooktown Festival, the work was hailed as a powerful and poignant work of reconciliation embracing the difficulties of our combined histories but looking forward with hope to a new Australia. Two cultures – one people.
Jeffrey lives in London where he has a professional teaching studio, with his wife, Jan. He currently sits on the Board of Music and Opera Singers Trust (MOST) as an opera singer and classical music industry representative. He has two children, James, a New York Banker and passionate singer/musician and daughter, Tiffany, a comedy writer/performer.