Opera Scotland

Eduardo Asquez Suggest updates

Born La Linea, Spain, 7 June 1919.

Died Paisley, 20 September 1998.

English tenor and teacher.

Eduardo Asquez had an ancestry part-British, Asquez being the closest Spanish equivalent to his grandfather's name, which was Asquith. His mother was Spanish, and he grew up in Morocco, training initially at the Conservatoire in Casablanca. When war broke out, he was studying in Paris, and, as a British national, was interned for the duration.

After the war he spent several years in Gibraltar before moving to the UK in 1950. His singing career in Britain was short, a few seasons touring with the Carl Rosa company, singing a range of lyric roles such as Rodolfe, Faust and Duke of Mantua. He also performed shorter parts including Don Ottavio, Edmondo in Manon Lescaut and Francesco in Benvenuto Cellini. After the closure of the company he appeared in the West End run of the Frank Loesser musical The Most Happy Fella (1960), and quickly began to build a successful career as a teacher of singing.

He spent the rest of his career teaching in London. His remarkably successful list of students includes great singing actors such as sopranos Marie Collier, Valerie Masterson, Pauline Tinsley, Rosalind Plowright and Vivian Tierney; tenors Patrick Power,  Geoffrey Pogson and Neill Archer; as well as baritone Anthony Michaels-Moore and bass Michael Druiett.