Falkner, Sir (Donald) Keith

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Falkner, Sir (Donald) Keith

Falkner, Sir (Donald) Keith, English bass-baritone and pedagogue; b. Sawston, Cambridgeshire, March 1, 1900; d. Bungay, Suffolk, May 17, 1994. He studied at New Coll., Oxford, and with Plunkett Greene in London, Lierhammer in Vienna, Grenzebach in Berlin, and Dossert in Paris. From 1923 to 1946 he was active mainly as a concert singer, appearing principally in oratorios. After serving as visiting prof. (1950–51), assoc. prof. (1951–56), and prof. (1956–60) at Cornell Univ., he was director of the Royal Coll. of Music in London (1960–74). He was joint artistic director of the Kings Lynn Festival (1981–83). In 1974 he was knighted.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire