Sylvia Fair

A pupil of Ernesto Vinci, Sylvia Fair won the Grand Prize on the CBC talent competition Opportunity Knocks in 1952 (as Sylvia Grant, her name from her first marriage). From 1952 to 1963, she appeared regularly with the Royal Conservatory Opera (University of Toronto Opera Division) and the Canadian Opera Company. Her performances were marked by dramatic force and a voice of brilliant timbre. She sang lyric and dramatic roles including Donna Anna (1956) and Donna Elvira (1963) in Don Giovanni, Nedda in Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci (1961), and Ortlinde in Die Walküre (1962). She sang leading roles in 1960 with the Calgary Opera. She also appeared from 1966 to 1968 with the New York City Opera, where her roles were Lucille in the North American premiere of Von Einem's Danton's Death (1966), Fata Morgana in Prokofiev's The Love of Three Oranges, and Musetta in La Bohème. She retired from singing in 1968 and became a teacher. She started going by Sylvia Fair after her second marriage in 1974.