Patricia Kern

British mezzo-soprano and singing teacher Patricia Kern was born in Swansea on 14 July 1927. She studied with Gwynn Parry Jones at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London (1949-52), worked at Opera for All (1952-5) and joined Sadler's Wells in 1959, staying for ten seasons, and singing notable roles including Cinderella (La Cenerentola), Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Isolier (Le comte Ory) and Isabella (L'Italiana in Algeri).

She made her Covent Garden debut in 1967 and her US debut two years later in Washington DC. In 1987 she sang Marcellina in Chicago.

She sang on various recordings, including Hansel and Gretel, Romeo et Juliette, Albert Herring, Dido and Aeneas and Edward German's Merrie England.

She settled in Canada, where she taught voice at Toronto University.

Patricia Kern died on 19 October 2015, aged eighty-eight.