David Astor

A pupil in Vancouver of Lily Wilson and in London of Parry Jones and Manlio di Veroli, Astor sang in England with the Royal Opera and at the Glyndebourne and Aldeburgh Festivals, and in the USA with the Chicago, Dayton, and Toledo operas. His COC roles have been Hoffmann in The Tales of Hoffmann in 1967, Donald Smith and General Middleton in Louis Riel in 1968 and 1975, and the Fourth Jew in Salome in 1975. Astor has appeared with Canadian orchestras, the BBC, Milwaukee, and Chicago SOs, the Royal Philharmonic, and has been heard in recital and on CBC and BBC radio. He sings the title role in the recording of Somers'The Fool. He has taught voice at the University of Wisconsin 1968-75, the Banff SFA 1974-84, Grant MacEwan Community College, Edmonton 1975-80, Alberta College 1980-91, the University of British Columbia 1988-9, and Capilano College beginning in 1989. He began teaching drama at the University of British Columbia in 1990. He has continued to teach privately, and to be active as a recitalist and soloist, particularly in oratorios. Astor and his wife Sarah were involved in the organization and administration of the Violet Archer Festival in Edmonton in 1985.