|
Born: August 19, 1921 - Lakota, Iowa, USA
Died: March 10, 1991 - Mount Vernon, New York, USA |
|
The American baritone, Paul Ukena, spent College years at University of Dubuque, and graduated in 1943. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps. spent three-plus years in the service with a discharge in April 1946. In 1945 he was married to Meta Peveto of Sherman, Texas. Upon leaving the service he enrolled at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, studying voice. In 1946, he was accepted into Julliard School of Music in New York City, graduating with Master of Music degree in 1950. While in school he began a career in singing and acting with the Robert Shaw Chorale and with NBS-TV Opera. He made solo appearances with major choruses all over the world.
In the early part of his career, in November 1950 Paul Ukena was the baritone soloist in the American premiere of Frederick Delius's Requiem. Although the work was completed in 1916, this was only its third performance (the first two, in London and Frankfurt, had occurred as far back as 1922). He was one of the original members of the NBC Opera Theater under Peter Herman Adler in the early 1950's, appearing in many of its television productions, including Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd and the premiere of Dello Joio's Trial at Rouen. He also enjoyed a lengthy association as a leading character baritone with the New York City Opera (NYCO) from 1958 to 1979, appearing in such productions as Richard Strauss' Silent Woman, and notably in a number of world premieres, including Robert Ward's The Crucible, Hugo Weisgall's Six Characters in Search of an Author and Joseph Tal's Ashmedai, among others. He also appeared in music theater productions both on and Off Broadway and in regional theaters: in the 1953 Broadway musical Maggie, the 1954 Broadway musical Sandhog, and the 1970 Broadway musical Cry for Us All. He played Fantômas in the original Off-Broadway production of the Stanley Silverman/Richard Foreman production of Hotel for Criminals. He was a soloist with several major ensembles, among them the Robert Shaw Chorale, The Collegiate Chorale, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra.
Paul Ukena taught at Juilliard School of Music in New York. He was a professor of music at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, from 1961 through 1989.
Paul Ukena died of heart failure on Sunday March 10, 1991. He was 69 years old. He was survived by his wife, Meta Peveto Ukena, of Mount Vernon, New York; five children: Katha Chamberlain, of Le Sueur, Minnesota; Paul Jr., of Manhattan; Elizabeth Catino, of Lebanon, New Jersey; Amy Edney, of Oakland, California; and Jeremy, of Utica, New York; and seven grandchildren. |
