John Arab
Canadian tenor and singing teacher John (Joseph) Arab was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Lebanese parents on 15 July 1930.
His career as a singer and teacher touched many people. He worked with several American opera companies and sang with the Canadian Opera Company for almost twenty years, taking the lead in many performances of La bohème, The Barber of Seville and Louis Riel.
John Arab retired from singing in 1977 and taught singing. His students included Michael Burgess, Michael Schade and Robert Pomakov, who observed that 'He was concerned about making good men, not just good singers'.
John Arab retired from teaching in 1995 and, following a short illness, he died in Toronto on Sunday 11 June 2000, aged sixty-nine.