John Aler
American tenor John Aler was born in Baltimore on 4 October 1949 and studied voice with Raymond McGuire and Rilla Mervine at the Catholic University of America, with Oren Brown at Juilliard and with Marlena Malas at Tanglewood.
His operatic career began singing Ernesto (in Don Pasquale) at the Juilliard's American Opera Center in 1977, followed by appearances at Santa Fe Opera the following year and at La Monnaie in 1979. He went on to sing major roles across Europe but turned down work at New York Metropolitan Opera because he preferred to sing in smaller opera houses.
Aler sang at American summer festivals including Aspen, Chautauqua, Grant Park, Newport and Ravinia, and appeared as a soloist with major orchestras in Europe and the USA. He also taught voice at George Mason University in Virginia, where he was director of Mason Opera.
John Aler died suddenly on 10 December 2022, aged seventy-three.