Background
King, James Ambros was born on May 22, 1925 in Dodge City, Kansas, United States. Son of Howard Willis and Hettie Lenora (Shaffer) King.
music educator musician singer opera singer
King, James Ambros was born on May 22, 1925 in Dodge City, Kansas, United States. Son of Howard Willis and Hettie Lenora (Shaffer) King.
Bachelor of Music, Louisiana State University, 1950. Master of Arts, University Kansas City, Missouri, 1952. Doctor of Letters (honorary), University Kentucky, 1978.
Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), University Missouri, 1980. Voice studies with, Dallas Draper. Voice studies with, Martial Singher.
Voice studies with, Max Lorenz. Voice studies with, William Hughes.
Widely regarded as one of the finest American heldentenors of the post-war period, he excelled in performances of the works of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. King made several recording during his career, most notably singing the role of Siegmund in Die Walkure for Sir Georg Solti"s famous recording of Wagner"s Ring Cycle. He earned a bachelor"s degree in music from Louisiana State University in 1949, where he trained to be a baritone with Dallas Draper.
He then pursued a master"s degree in vocal performance from the University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC).
He then joined the voice faculty of UMKC, where he taught for nine years and began performing in concerts and operas as a baritone. In 1956 King came to the personal realization that he was in fact a tenor and not a baritone.
In 1960 he began his career as a tenor as a resident artist with the Saint Louis Municipal Opera. His last performance of a baritone role was for his debut with the San Francisco Opera as Escamillo in Carmen with Marilyn Horne in the title role in May 1961.
He was soon offered contracts with major European opera houses, including the Deutsche Oper Berlin (1962), the Salzburg Festival (1962), the Vienna State Opera (1963), the Bayreuth Festival (1965), and Louisiana Scala (1968).
King made his Metropolitan Opera debut on January 8, 1966, as Florestan in Fidelio. Over the next thirty years, he sang 113 performances at the Metropolitan His other Met roles included The Emperor in Die Frau ohne Schatten.
Aegisthus in Elektra.
Calaf in Turandot; Lohengrin. Don Jose in Carmen; Erik in The Flying Dutchman.
Siegmund in Die Walküre. Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos.
Cavaradossi in Tosca.
Walther in Die Meistersinger. Captain Vere in Billy Budd. And Drum Major in Wozzeck.
His final appearance was on April 27, 1996 singing Walther in the finale of Die Meistersinger to conclude the James Levine Gala.
Later in life, King was a music and voice professor at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University (Indiana University) from 1984 until his retirement from teaching in 2002. His last performance was in 2000 as Siegmund at Indiana University. King died on November 20, 2005, of a heart attack in Naples, Florida.
He was a member of the voice faculties at the University of Missouri–Kansas City and the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University.
Married; children: David, Daniel, Ruth, Thomas, Elisabeth.